Château Climens: Henri Gounouilhou
Henri Gounouilhou (1853 – 1913), a well-to-do publisher of a local newspaper, Petite Gironde, had recently gained a foothold in the region at Château Doisy-Dubroca following his marriage in 1880 to Marguerite Dubroca (1862 – 1947). Henri was the son of Gustave Gounouilhou (1821 – 1912), also an important name in publishing. His acquisition of Château Climens, in 1885, was to be the beginning of this estate’s recovery.
Despite the significance of this acquisition many commentators on Bordeaux seem to be confused about the point at which Henri enters the Climens story, suggesting that he purchased the château not in 1885 but in 1855. I suspect these authors are mixing up the date of his acquisition with the date of the estate’s high ranking within the 1855 classification. As Henri was born in 1853, a fact confirmed by my examination of his passport (still held today in the Archives départementales de la Gironde), issued on the event of his travel to Portugal in 1873 (when he was aged twenty years), he would have been just two years old in 1855. I am sure Henri was a very determined young man, but I doubt he was buying up Bordeaux châteaux while still in kindergarten.
Henri Gounouilhou and his family worked tirelessly, fighting the inevitable battles against phylloxera and oidium, replanting the vineyards and restoring the dominance of Semillon which has been established under the tenure of Alfred Ribet. He also repaired and refurbished the château, and I am tempted to think it was he who added the towers (one of which is pictured below – where you can see the slate and terracotta roofs side-by-side), although I have no definite evidence to support this belief. His work brought a golden age of expansion and prosperity to Château Climens, as the estate grew not only in size but in reputation; during this era the property produced wines which in some vintages rivalled those of Château d’Yquem in terms of both quality and price.
