History
Only five families have owned the estate since its origins. This is rare, and it explains why the estate still forms a single continuous block. The vineyard has barely changed since it was created.
The name Climens first appears in a 1547 contract stating that Girault Roborel, the King's lawyer in Barsac, inherited part of this land from his father. The two names, Climens and Roborel, soon merged into a single family name, the Roborel de Climens, who built up the estate for more than two centuries. An elegant, understated chartreuse (a traditional local country house) built in the 17th century bears witness to the estate's distinguished past. However, historical upheaval undermined the family enterprise, and the well-established estate suffered during the French Revolution. The widow of Jean-Baptiste Roborel de Climens sold it in 1802. The buyer, Jean Binaud, a Bordeaux wine merchant, knew exactly what he was doing: he recognised the property's potential and looked after it very well.
Château Climens later belonged to two more winegrowing families, both equally aware of the value of this unique terroir. It is no surprise, then, that the 1855 classification recognised Château Climens as a First Growth. From 1855, the famous Bordeaux printers and newspaper owners, the Gounouilhou family, owned Climens for almost a century. In the early 1970s, Lucien Lurton, who already owned several famous classified growths in the Médoc, took an interest in the region's exceptional terroirs. Won over by the delicacy of Climens wines, he showed great foresight in buying the château in 1971, despite the crisis then affecting Sauternes. He brought a decisive touch of modernity and relentlessly high standards to the estate, while respecting tradition and its centuries-old savoir-faire. In 1992 his daughter, Bérénice Lurton, took the château's future into her own hands. Since then she has worked with enthusiasm and determination to preserve the precious magic of Château Climens, ensuring that this legendary growth shines ever brighter in Sauternes.
