Château Closiot

The estate

Closiot stands in the commune of Barsac, 2 kilometers out of the village, on sables fauves and clay and limestone over the limestone slab that Barsac sits on, with Château Climens and Château Doisy-Védrines for neighbors. A Barsac estate may sell its sweet wine as Barsac or as Sauternes, and Closiot has used the 2 names over the years; today the sweet wines are labeled Barsac. It is not a classified growth of 1855.

Françoise Soizeau and Bernard Sirot, a Franco-Belgian couple, ran it for decades and sold because nobody in the family wanted to take it on. The buyer was Jean-Marie Guffens, the Belgian who built Guffens-Heynen and Verget in the Mâconnais, and he took over on May 1, 2017. There were 7 hectares of vines at the sale, the heart of them the Clos Bonneau around the house, planted 90% Sémillon with 5% Sauvignon Gris and 5% Muscadelle, averaging 49 years; some of the Sémillon in the Clos Bonneau is 100 years old.

The grapes are picked by hand in successive passes, 4 to 6 of them, waiting on the botrytis. What Guffens does with them is what a white wine grower does: the 2022 Bonneau was pressed in small vertical presses, fermented on its own yeasts in new barrels with no sulfur added, left in the wood through the summer and then moved into concrete to hold its freshness until bottling, unfined. Bonneau is Sémillon alone, from the Clos; Les Dames de Bonneau is a selection of the most botrytised bunches. There is also a dry white, sold as Bordeaux Blanc rather than Barsac.

At a glance

Appellation

Barsac

Commune

Barsac, 2 kilometers out of the village

Classification

MICHELIN Guide, 1 grape (2026)

Owner

Jean-Marie Guffens, of Guffens-Heynen and Verget, since May 1, 2017

Vineyard

7 hectares at the sale of 2017, the heart of them the Clos Bonneau; vines of 49 years on average, some Sémillon 100 years old

Ground

Sables fauves and clay and limestone over the limestone slab of Barsac

Grapes

Sémillon 90%, Sauvignon Gris 5%, Muscadelle 5%

Cellar

Picked by hand in 4 to 6 passes; the 2022 Bonneau: vertical presses, own yeasts, new barrels, no sulfur added, then concrete until bottling, unfined

Wines

Bonneau; Les Dames de Bonneau; a dry white sold as Bordeaux Blanc

Sources: Mairie de Barsac, Château Closiot · La Libre, Château Closiot changes hands · Verget, Château Closiot