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  • Country ranking ?

    1 237
  • Producer ranking ?

    77
  • Decanting time

    1h
  • When to drink

    Now

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The Story

The pleasure derived from tasting Yquem is difficult to describe.

It offers a myriad of well-balanced, complex flavours that generate even more harmonies over time. The impression that remains is reminiscent of a quote from Frédéric Dard "the silence that follows a piece by Mozart, in which the listener remains suffused with the music". This reflects the fact that Château d'Yquem stays on the palate for a remarkable long time, providing a u...

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Wine Information

Protected by kings

Château d’Yquem’s first harvest took place three hundred years earlier, in 1593, when Jacques de Sauvage purchased the estate from the crown. When Francoise de Sauvage and Louis Amade Lur-Saluces, king Louis XV’s godson, married in 1785, Yquem became part of the property of the historic and traditional Lur-Saluces family. At the same time, the vineyard received approval and protection from the French royalty. Today, the v...

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Vintage 1979

Bordeaux / The year 1979 partly repeated the 1978 vintage with a wet and cool spring, a hot summer, a cool and dry autumn. Dry whites did well this year while reds, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, struggled to reach full physiological maturity. Once again, Mouton was a disappointment. The right bank did better with Merlot. The best wine of the vintage is the first Le Pin ever produced. Other excellent wines worth mentioning are La Mission Hau...

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

15 tasting notes

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Written Notes

The 1979 d’Yquem was another sleeper, surprisingly clean and fresh. Honey was there, but not in an open way; in fact, this was shier than expected. Smokehouse and stonewall accompanied dry caramel in its nose, and in the end this was really the most classic of the entire flight. This was right down the middle, lighter than the ’82 or ’83 but more classy. Caramel ice cream and candle wax flavors rounded out this excellent Yquem. This is a steal at auction, by the way, when it rarely comes up (94).
  • 94p
Consistent notes. Straw yellow. On the nose, it had much sweetness, and botrytis had strong associations to spongy soil in the forest. On the palate it was fat and concentrated, with hazelnuts and rasp honey. Well proportioned, tasty and with beautiful balance. It was stunningly splendid and captivating wine, to enjoy during the next 10 years. In September 2012 it began to show age with fine candied fruit of orange peel and dried apricots, on the light side, elegant and with medium finish.
  • 91p
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Information

Origin

Sauternes, Bordeaux
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