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Château d'Yquem
Bordeaux France
  • 99
    Points
  • The 709 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 21 Pros of
    22 recommend
    this wine
1164 99
  • Taste
  • Moment

d'Yquem 1990

Château d'Yquem, Bordeaux, France

  • Country ranking ?

    609

  • Producer ranking ?

    35

  • Decanting time

    3h

  • When to drink

    now to 2040

Food Pairing

Top vintages From 1787 to 2023

1945 ›  100 Tb
1811 ›  100 Tb
1928 ›  100 Tb
1906 ›  100 Tb
2023 ›  100 Tb
2009 ›  100 Tb
2001 ›  100 Tb
1921 ›  100 Tb
2015 ›  100 Tb
1929 ›  100 Tb
Average 96.87 Tb
Sweet wine, d'Yquem 1990
d'Yquem 1990, Château d'Yquem,
Bordeaux, France, Sweet wine

  • Users

    96p

  • Pros

    97p

  • Fine

    98p

  • Users

    96p

  • Pros

    97p

  • Fine

    98p

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 u...

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Wine Information

The 1990 Château d'Yquem is an immortal, monumental, and historically perfect Premier Cru Supérieur Sauternes that stands as one of the ultimate crown jewels of the 20th century. Closing out the estate's legendary "1988–1989–1990 trilogy," this vintage was blessed by a scorching, dry summer followed by an exceptionally humid autumn that fueled a massive and remarkably swift botrytis development, yielding a colossal residual sugar level of arou...

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Vintage 1990

An early, even flowering, a warm but unspectacular summer and an exceptionally hot period during the end of August and the first half of September. It was this heat that made it possible for the record harvest to not only to fully ripen, but also to concentrate the fruit.  The harvest started on September 14 and was finished before heavy rains commenced on October 2. Another reason for the success of the vintage was that most châteaux had inve...

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Average Bottle Price

Year Price Change
2026 476€ +26.9%
2023 375€ +20.6%
2020 311€ +3.0%
2017 302€ +1.0%
2015 299€ -19.4%
2014 371€ +1.4%
2012 366€ -7.1%
2010 394€ +41.7%
2005 278€ +49.5%
2000 186€ -
Year Price Change
2026 476€ +26.9%
2023 375€ +20.6%
2020 311€ +3.0%
2017 302€ +1.0%
2015 299€ -19.4%
2014 371€ +1.4%
2012 366€ -7.1%
2010 394€ +41.7%
2005 278€ +49.5%
2000 186€ -

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.

Tasting note

color

Deep, Amber and Bright

ending

Long, Lingering and Spicy

flavors

Apricot, Vanilla, Waxy, Toasty, Honey and Coffee

nose

Refined, Complex, Rich and Intense

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Concentrated, Well-structured, Perfectly balanced, Youthful, Medium-bodied, Firm, Round, Harmonious and Sweet

Verdict

Well-rounded and Sophisticated

Written Notes

This wine has become a legend already at its youth. We have tasted this wine on several occasions. Each time it has been charming, although its greatness lies in its exquisite future potential. Bright deep golden colour. Very intense honeyed and botrytised nose still partly closed while giving seductive hints of its complexity. Marmalade and apricots are becoming more pronounced after breathing in the glass. Nose reveals several layers of aromas but not anything like what is to come. The lusciously sweet, honeyed taste is lightened up by the crisp acidity. Spicy vanilla tones from barrel maturation adds complexity to the wine. Very concentrated wine with a great length. This wine benefits from further ageing.

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  • 97p
We started with the classic quartet of 1990, 1989, 1988 and 1986. The 1990 Chateau d’Yquem had aromas of seawater, salt, honey, beeswax and candlewax in its nutty and creamy nose. It became more reticent with time in the glass, but its palate stayed honeyed, and it was ‘more textured’ than some of the others in the flight. Orange kisses blew gently over its finish. Interestingly enough, it seemed almost shut down after the 1989, but this was certainly a great Yquem with decades of potential (96).
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  • 96p

 This bottle was riveting. Bordering on perfection, the incredible blend of concentration, intensity, sweetness, vibrance, purity, length, and most importantly, its racy lift makes this one of life's great, sweet treats. Drink from 2023-2075.

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  • 99p

Golden. Apricots, rich, pineapples, vanilla, some caramel and burnt sugar. Fresh acidity, intense, layered, creamy, nuanced, detailed, rich, intense, spices, playful, superb balance, smoother and purer palate without the burnt caramel notes from the nose, superb. Drink over the next fifty years or so. My freshest bottle to date. 97

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  • 97p

‘Particular as a sunny and warm vintage. Not so much botrytis. Half ripe half botrytis. An older style. Aged for 3 years in barrel’.
Golden yellow tending bright orange with biscuit and toast bottle age. Seems initially less sweet – indeed there’s much of the ’05 in character here, complete with a little aldehyde. Banana, mandarin, preserved lemon. Really concentrated, sweet fruit. Like treacle, but it’s not sweet – just powerful fruit. Another wine that is more table wine than dessert style. Big and powerful finish. High quality and ultra-powerful but I see this as less classic. 18.5/20. 94/100.

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  • 94p
Tasted both from normal and magnum bottle. There was no significant difference between those two bottles regarding aroma, richness and taste. Light golden. Refined and deep in the nose with magnificently defined botrytis, sophisticated and refined on the palate with delicious sweetness, heather/rasp honey and lasting aftertaste. This wine is incredibly well put together and has incredibly promising future. Tasted again in September 2010 (normal bottle) with same impression.
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  • 97p
A clear, deep yellow colour. The nose offers intensive honey notes with a reductive elegance. The apricot and marmalade fruitiness will open in time. Stylish and layered. A sweet, freshly acidic and concentrated palate. Just now entering its prime drinkability, and will withstand another 10-20 years of bottle maturation. Decanted immediately before serving. Lasts 30 minutes in the glass. Decanted 2.5 hours. Lasts for several hours in the glass.
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  • 94p
Intense, golden yellow colour. Very concentrated nose is intense, honeyed, and complex. Sweet palate with vivid acidity, intense fruitiness – apricot and orange peel marmelade, vanilla, honey and lovely toastiness. Very intense and long lingering finish. Superb wine!
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  • 94p
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Information

Origin

Sauternes, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Best buy

Investment potential

Very Good

Fake factory

None

Glass time

2h

Inside Information

A vintage that reflects a beautiful hot, dry summer that stopped short of anything excessive. Lasting from 17/9 to 10/10, the harvest was very intense – picking took place every day during that time, except on weekends. The weather was outstanding, the grapes were ideal, and this is an extraordinary, amazingly successful vintage – an archetypal great Yquem with tremendous balance, power, and finesse.

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