1976 Climens, Barsac (bin-soiled label)
SKU #1484843
94 points
John Gilman
The 1976 Climens is one of my favorite wines of this vintage. The wine has long drank at its plateau of peak maturity, but it has held onto the veneer of zesty youth far longer than most of its 1976 cohorts. The bouquet today is deep, complex and still quite vibrant, wafting from the glass in a blend of honey, coconut, pineapple, orange, a lovely base of chalky soil, honeycomb and a hint of tea leaves in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and still very fresh, with lovely mid-palate depth, fine focus and grip and a long, classy and complex finish. A fine, fine vintage of Climens at its apogee.
(1/2018)
92 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted at the Bordeaux Index’s Chateau Climens dinner, this is the best bottle of ’76 I have encountered. A very clear, lucid amber hue. The nose is just beautiful, perhaps more perfumed and floral than previous bottles with almond, apricot, white peach, passion fruit, a hint of lime leaf and quince. The palate is also more delicate than previous bottles, vibrant acidity on the entry, quite edgy, a viscous heart with a dainty, dried peach finish. Beautiful. Tasted November 2009. (NM)
(3/2010)
Jancis Robinson
A glorious bottle bought ex château in 1998. Brilliant orange. So rich with burnt caramel flavours and yet so fresh and lively too. The nose had a blossom quality to it. Superb.
Thick and sweet and dense. (JR) 19/20
(11/2014)
K&L Notes
4 stars from Michael Broadbent: "A hot dry summer, beautiful grapes, but over four 'tries' between 1st and 23rd October, and although the grapes changed color, from golden to almost chocolate, not botrytis appeared. Large crop with 30,000 bottles of the 1er vin. Fairly high alcohol (14.3%) and very high residual sugar (114g/l) Superb throughout the 1980s, rich and fat for a Barsac. Golden colour. 'legs' or 'tears' like Gothic arches, imbued with every possible fragrance and flavour, rich but crisp. Most recently: low-keyed, very slightly varnishy nose, but with good depth; sweet,crisp, full-bodied, slightly spicy finish. à point. Last tasted at the Château, Oct 2001" (Michael Broadbent's Vintage Wine - 2002)
