Château d’Yquem is the most celebrated and consistently revered sweet wine estate in the world, producing Sauternes from 103 hectares of Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc on its gravelly clay and sandy soils above the Ciron valley in the southern Bordeaux appellation, where the autumn fog that arises from the meeting of the cool Ciron and warm Garonne rivers creates the microclimate responsible for the annual development of noble rot on the estate’s carefully monitored vines. Yquem’s commitment to quality is legendary: in years where the conditions for producing a wine of the estate’s standard are not met, no wine is produced under the Yquem label. The 2019 vintage received a wine-searcher aggregate of 95/100 across approved publications, placing it in the range of reliable but not exceptional recent Yquem vintages (the outstanding years of 2009 and 2001 both received 98/100 aggregates), but confirming a wine of genuine Yquem quality and the character that the estate consistently delivers from its exceptional terroir.

The 2019 Sauternes vintage was characterised by warm conditions that produced wines of good natural sugar concentration and aromatic richness, though the botrytis development that produces Yquem’s signature complexity and concentration was less evenly distributed across the harvest than in the very greatest years. The estate’s commitment to multiple passes through the vineyard, picking only the most perfectly botrytised bunches at each harvest, ensures that even in a year of variable botrytis development, the final wine reflects the highest possible quality selection from the available material. The 2019 Yquem, now at six years from harvest, is still in the very earliest phase of what should be a multi-decade development arc.

Château d’Yquem at any quality level, from any vintage, in any format, is the benchmark against which all other sweet wines are measured and the wine whose acquisition in a private cellar provides both the greatest long-term drinking pleasure and the clearest statement of a collector’s ambition and taste. The 2019, at a 95/100 aggregate, is an excellent expression of a good Yquem vintage at an accessible stage of its very early development.

Deep gold with a concentrated nose of apricot, honey, candied orange peel, saffron, nutmeg, beeswax and the distinctive Yquem botrytis mineral-waxy character from its gravelly clay soils. Full-bodied with extraordinary natural acidity balancing the unctuous sweetness, remarkable concentration and a very long, complex, layered finish. Best from 2030 through 2070.