1995 Château Climens

Community Tasting Notes (35) Avg Score: 90.4 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Echinosum's profile
  • Report Issue

  10/21/2023 - Echinosum wrote: 91 Points

  When you give a Climens, in a decent vintage, only 91, the effect is to damn it with faint praise. And that is my intention. Because it ought to be stunning, but it's only fairly good.
  
  I don't open my 95s for guests, because so many have been flawed, and the ones that aren't, like this one - or not that I can detect - they just don't sing. I thought I was going to do better this time. Because when I first put it in my mouth it had that wonderful intensity of apricots and marmalade. It has some zing and some length. For about 15 seconds, I went, maybe this is the good one, what Climens ought to have been in 1995. But after a while, I realised it wasn't. What it lacks is the balance and composure of every other vintage of Climens I've had, and there are many, the odd individual bad bottle aside. It lacks the finesse, the composition, the great length and glorious aftertaste. If it was a lesser chateau, you could be delighted with it.

  2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View red_man's profile
  • Report Issue

  11/2/2022 - red_man wrote: 90 Points

  half bottle, pale gold colour, fine, rich, complex, butterscotch nose, clean, lots of nuances, palate of medium to light weight but still luscious, lovely flavour, good finesse, long clean non-cloying finish with just the right amount of balancing acid, at its peak and will stay that way for 5 years, probably more, nice wine

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View red_man's profile
  • Report Issue

  8/7/2022 - red_man wrote: 90 Points

  half-bottle, light amber-gold, rich, quite soft, barley-sugar nose, some botrytis character, soft, rich, smooth and well balanced on the palate, long finish and aftertaste, lacks just a little “bite” to be a top Climens, but still a lovely drink, as noted previously decant to give some air and drink at cellar temperature, last dregs in the last glass were best, really gaining in interest and complexity both on nose and palate, next time try at least half a day in the decanter

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Echinosum's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/20/2022 - Echinosum Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Finally one that doesn't feel like it has a TCA fault. PNP, didn't feel it evolved greatly after opening. Classic elegant Climens style in comparison to the plumper wines from 86/88/89 etc. wines. A fine acidity keeps it mouthwatering, but is nicely balanced in view of the concentration of flavour. Oak is prominent, and ultimately that's the feature that holds me back from saying it's really good wine, bit too much oak and not enough everything else. Has the structure to last a long time yet. So I have a classic, well-balanced, concentrated, Barsac and I'm only giving it 91, because of an absence of the deliciousness factor. Perhaps I'm a bit mean, but it's still the least engaging Climens I've had, in comparison to 83/85/86/88/89/90 that I've drunk over the years. But a lot better than the TCA affected bottles. Just hope a few more of my remaining bottles are like this one.

  1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View red_man's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/24/2021 - red_man wrote: 90 Points

  half bottle, lightest straw-gold colour, still youthful for age, OK I may have done previous bottles a misservice, straight out of the bottle at fridge temperature this wine is indeed pretty dumb and simple, it needs some time in the decanter (2 hours +) and serving not too cold (cellar temp ca 12C) to really break out and strut its stuff, always still in the fine and elegant mould but then with much more complexity and interest, nose intense, clean, fine, orange-blossom honey, palate taut, lovely even weight from front to back, sweetness there but not really noticeable because of the well integrated acidity and slight cleansing botrytis hardness/bitterness at the finish, when given the right treatment (and the right bottle - there has been variation) this is a lovely Barsac style at its peak

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

View all 35 Community Tasting Notes

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.