70% Sémillon, 30% Sauvignon Blanc

Food pairings: Seafood such as langoustines, scallops, oysters, crab and other shellfish; grilled fish; white meats; goat cheese, Comté and blue cheeses; light salads and dishes with citrus-based sauces.

Winemaking: The 2023 was picked by hand from August 28 to September 21, plot by plot at peak ripeness, in several passes and in small crates. The grapes were pressed slowly in a pneumatic press without destemming or maceration, and the juice was cold-settled by gravity in a cold room. The best lots were vinified and aged for 6 to 7 months on their fine lees with regular stirring (bâtonnage), 25% in barrels and 75% in small vats, and the wine was bottled in March 2024. The touch of French oak makes the Sémillon dense and rich and the Sauvignon Blanc refined and precise.

Vineyards and terroir: Clos des Lunes is a rolling vineyard of old Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc vines on the left bank of the Garonne, about 40 km south of Bordeaux, spread across the communes of the Sauternes area. Each part of its mosaic of terroirs plays a role: deep gravels with underground water sources around Sauternes bring power, gravel over clay-limestone around Bommes brings freshness, and the red clays and Garonne alluvium of Barsac bring elegance and minerality. Sloping hills and a network of underground water give excellent natural drainage and water balance. Conversion to organic farming began in 2023.

Family and history: Clos des Lunes was founded in 2011 by Olivier Bernard of Domaine de Chevalier in Pessac-Léognan, an estate renowned for its dry whites, with the ambition of creating a legendary dry white on the great sweet-wine terroir of Sauternes. The property previously made sweet wine as Château Haut-Caplane. Harvesting and winemaking follow the Domaine de Chevalier approach, and Olivier's son Hugo Bernard now runs Clos des Lunes. Lune d'Argent is the heart of the estate's production, between the rare Lune d'Or and the unoaked Lune Blanche.

In the pictures: Vineyards of Château d'Arche above the village of Sauternes in January 2026 (photo: Jefunky, 2026, CC0). Domaine de Chevalier, the Bernard family's Pessac-Léognan estate, in an engraving from the 1898 edition of Cocks & Féret's "Bordeaux et ses vins" (Eugène Vergez, CC0).