Château Climens unable to produce a 2017 vintage
SAUTERNES PRODUCER CHATEAU Climens has announced that it does not plan to make any ‘first wine’ from the 2017 vintage, after seeing its vineyards damaged by the devastating frost that struck Bordeaux early in the growing season last year.
Climens, the premier cru classé estate based in Barsac, commented that it had conceded defeat to the weather in the 2017 vintage.
Experts had feared that the severe frosts in Bordeaux in April 2017 – particularly in the southern and Right Bank vineyard regions – would cause serious problems for some producers in those areas at harvest time.
Climens was particularly badly affected by frost and it reported that a second budding in its vineyards did little to alleviate the situation.
In the end, the estate conducted a ‘grape hunt’ during the harvest in september, but still only managed to garner tiny yields of 2.5hl/ha – or roughly one barrel per hectare, a figure which is a record low.
‘This doesn’t give us enough prima materia to make an honourable Climens. We have thus naturally decided not to make any first wine in 2017,’ explained Bérénice Lurton, the proprietor of Château Climens, which is farmed biodynamically.
she added that this will be the first time since 1993 that the estate has been unable to make a first wine.
‘We can say that we have had the joy of being able to make very good, even tremendous, Climens for 23 years in a row,’ said Lurton.