2023 Semillon Chateau-Closiot Bordeaux

In Barsac, Bordeaux’s Sauternais, Château Closiot sits on characterful clay-limestone soils, giving its Sémillon both richness and a lovely mineral snap. Belgian-born Jean-Marie Guffens, who acquired the estate in 2017, brings a Burgundian eye for precision to this 8-hectare property. The warm, challenging 2023 vintage produced no sweet wine here, as botrytis was scarce, so Guffens embraced dry Sémillon instead. Picked in three passes over three weeks, the wine is rich yet taut, with poached pear, baked apple, confit lemon, pineapple, vanilla and spice, finishing long and chalky. Try it with roast lobster, creamy chicken, scallops or mature Comté.