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  • Country ranking ?

    126
  • Producer ranking ?

    6
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now - 2045

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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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 unique, prolonged pleasure. There is a lovely expression in French to describe Yquem's tremendously long aftertaste: il fait la queue du paon, which means that it spreads out like a peacock's tail.

 

It is always difficult to describe wine-tasting experiences with any precision. The senses of sight, smell, taste and touch are all stimulated virtually at the same time. While gifted tasters can identify some of the aromas and flavours in a glass of Yquem in an effort to define its complexity, they never really succeed in communicating its essence or explaining its mystery. Mere analysis, whether chemical or organoleptic, is not sufficient to account for Yquem's greatness. Yquem tells a unique story... It starts with the bouquet. Although not always very outgoing in young vintages, it is marked by fruit (apricot, mandarin, and occasionally tropical fruit) and oak (vanilla and toasty aromas). Older vintages, on the other hand, have an extraordinarily complex fragrance as soon as the bottle is opened, with hints of dried fruit (dried apricot, prune, stewed fruit, and marmalade), spice (cinnamon, saffron, and liquorice), and even flowers (lime blossom, etc.). The first impression of Château d'Yquem on the palate is always very silky, and often sumptuous. It then fills out, "coating the palate". This fine wine has a strong, but never overbearing character, with great elegance and poise. It always maintains a balance between sugar and acidity (sweetness and freshness). A touch of bitterness can also contribute to the overall harmony. Château d'Yquem's aftertaste is legendary, and it tells another story, which lasts and lasts…

Certain connoisseurs consider it outrageous to drink a young Yquem and believe that opening such a monumental wine before its thirtieth birthday is tantamount to a sacrilege. Others, on the contrary, think that Yquem can be enjoyed at all stages in its life.

 

Chateau d`Yquem is often described as the greatest sweet wine in the world. After centuries of family ownership, Yquem was was bought by Louis Vuitton-Moët-Hennessy in 1999. Its former owner and director Alexandre de Lur-Saluce remains in charge. Yquem is located on the highest hill in Sauternes and enjoys the best growing conditions in the whole appellation. The 110-hectare vineyard is planted with 80% Sémillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc. Only fully botrytized fruit is picked by the 150 highly skilled pickers and yields are so low that each vine produces only one glass of wine. Yquem is fermented in oak barrels (100% new) and is left in barriques to mature for up to 36 months. Intensely opulent when young, Yquem develops an extraordinary complexity and exotic richness when fully mature, with the best vintages lasting for over 50 years. Château d'Yquem is classified as a 1er Cru Classé supérieur.

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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 vineyard comprises 457 acres, which is approximately the same as two hundred years ago. The man who ran the winery for thirty years, Alexandre de Lur-Saluces, now retired, says that his winemaking philosophy goes back centuries:
The most important thing is to respect nature, just the way my grandfather and his predecessors did hundreds of years ago. We cannot produce great wines without the help of Mother Nature. Every harvest is, in a way, an individual adventure with its individual surprises. We wish to extend this thinking to respecting the people who love the wine that comes from our vineyards, and the people who work on the fields. Our wines will stay the same in the future as they were a century ago. The tools have changed, but not our way of making wine.”

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Vintage 1928

"Spring was fairly cool and flowering took place on an average date. This was followed by a warm, dry summer and then storms in late August and early September that brought 50 mm of rain. Noble rot developed well and the first half of the crop was very rich. Things became more complicated starting on the 9th of October when 100 mm of rain fell leaving too few windows in which to pick. So the second part of the crop not at good or as concentrated as the first."

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Average Bottle Price

2023 2015 2010 1995
1 980€ +12.5% 1 760€ +26.6% 1 390€ +302.9% 345€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Latest Pro-tasting notes

14 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Medium and Gold

ending

Long, Smooth and Flavorful

flavors

Apricot, Herbs, Honey, Earthy and Creamy

nose

Intense, Refined, Pure and Fresh

recommend

Yes

taste

Medium tannin, Well-structured, Complex, Perfectly balanced, Full-bodied, Harmonious, Rich, Vigor, Sweet and Silky tannins

Written Notes

Huge expectations, the best wine I've had, 28 Suduiraut, if there is a wine to beat it..... Difficult to read label, cork states quite clearly Yquem, Lur-Saluces, 1928. B/C level fill, above mid shoulders. Pale amber with broad green yellow rim. Nuts, apricots, apple, lemon, raisins, minerals and even schistes. A glorious, layered and transparent in the best sence of the word mix of mature and more youthfull flavours. Perfect balance in a different league, great acidity, such finesse, pineapples comming to join the elegant party, even coconut and papaya, acidity is tender, doing its job gracefully like the queen greeting her guests. Gorgeous length. Minutes again. But this bottle do not beat the Suduiraut, and that is mainly because of the Suduirauts length and even better freshness. The 28's seems to be marvels! 99

  • 99p
Dark amber. Very special smell and taste salt sticks with a little of tobacco and sea salt. This was quite atypical wine for the property, which clearly indicated, that it peaked many, many years ago.
  • 92p
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Information

Origin

Sauternes, Bordeaux
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