March 31, 2024 - Unctuous dried apricots, caramel, and cotton candy - delicous dessert wine. My last half bottle.
January 3, 2024 - Wine Dinner in Orange County (Water Grill, Costa Mesa, CA): From memory: voluptuous, phenolic and vergeresque. Not too sweet at all with a nice balance of plasticine and caramel-like aromatics.
August 26, 2023 - This is a wow wine. Will it get better with age - almost assuredly. But the four of us drinking it tonight were very impressed. Rich and sweet, but with excellent acid to keep the wine from being cloying. Could this be another 2001? Time will tell.
June 23, 2022 - Light body, pear and apple, a bit fizzy, medium - acidity.
June 11, 2022 - From a half bottle. Golden nectar-like viscosity in the glass. Orange, tangerine marmalade and honeysuckle on the nose. The palate is an explosion of peaches, tangerine, honey, apricots, just *wow* A finish of caramel and balancing acidity. Sweet, fruity, and well balanced. Maybe this is too young but it is delicious! Will try to hold off a few years before trying my next half bottle. 93/94
October 4, 2020 - This was my first Sauternes and it was only 4 years young, so I'm withholding judgment. But, I was underwhelmed. While there were some fruit, citrus and chamomile flavors, they were totally overwhelmed by the sweetness and lack of any secondary or tertiary flavors.
June 26, 2020 - The perfect combination of ripe and overripe pineapples, white peaches, nectarines and a touch of mango all slathered in honey, vanilla and flowers. The wine is quite sweet. But, the racy acidity lifts everything up on your palate so everything feels fresh and energetic. This could score even higher as it ages, and it will definitely age for at least 3 decades or longer.
April 10, 2020 - Packed full of thrills. Does young Sauternes get much better than this? Simultaneously broad and weightless, it’s on the more powerful side of Climens, although not super sweet. Moderate botrytis on the nose and palate, with explosive green apple/quince/mango/apricot fruit, bitter orange marmalade, mouthwatering acidity, a light touch of coconut/vanilla oak, stony minerals, white pepper and layers of complexity and a finish that goes on and on. This is a real winner and confirms why Climens is second only to Yquem in my book.
December 7, 2019 - Drinking Ch. Climens after only three years in the bottle? Why does one do it? Beautifully clear light lemon colour; wonder pure lift on the nose of acid drops, lemon (again), pear and botrytis. On the palate, light, elegant reasonable mouthfeel (but not great).
Do you wish to drink Climens at this stage, in it infancy, where it can barely walk? If you do, then go for it. But these wines are at the top of the pile, and will get better and better (in the sense of accruing greater depth).
It would be good to have a lot of this wine in my cellar, and that I should live forever. Neither, I'm afraid, will be the case.
No pun intended.
November 29, 2019 - Second 1/2 bottle: Was not quite as vibrant as the first one, has lost (or integrated) some of its beautiful acidity. A bit more normal with less variety on the palate, but nice fruit. Next bottle in 6-12 months.