No Château Climens 2017 due to frost damage
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Sauternes producer Château Climens does not plan to make any 'first wine' from the 2017 vintage after seeing vineyards damaged by devastating frost that struck Bordeaux early in the growing season.
Climens, the 1er Cru Classé estate based in Barsac, said today (Friday 26 January) that it has conceded defeat to the weather in the 2017 vintage.
It was already feared that the severe frosts in Bordeaux in April 2017, particularly in the southern and Right Bank vineyard regions, could cause serious problems for some producers at harvest time.
Climens was badly affected by frost and said that a second budding in its vineyards did little to alleviate the situation.
In the end, the estate conducted a ‘grape hunt’ during harvest, but still only managed to garner 2.5 hectolitres per hectare – roughly one barrel per hectare and a record low.
‘This doesn’t give us enough ‘materia prima’ to make a honourable Climens, [and] we have thus naturally decided not to make any first wine in 2017,’ said Bérénice Lurton, proprietor of Château Climens, which is farmed biodynamically.
‘This will be the first time since 1993 [that we have not made a first wine],’ the estate said.
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‘We can say that we have had the joy to be able to make very good to tremendous Climens for 23 years in a row.’
Château de Fieuzal in Pessac-Léognan announced in December 2017 that it would not be making any wine from the 2017 vintage, also due to frost.
See also: Bordeaux sees worst frost since 1991 – What now?
Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.
He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.
Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.
Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.