Chateau D'Yquem

In the 1855 Bordeaux wine classification, each estate included in the list was assigned to the first, second, third, fourth or fifth growth. With one exception. Château d’Yquem, a sweet white wine from the Sauternes appellation, was placed in a separate category, ‘Premier Cru Supérieur’, ranking one level above the rest. This distinction has stood for 170 years, and no one has seriously contested the need to review it.

History

The Yquem hill has been cultivated since ancient times. The history of the modern estate dates back to 1593, when the local nobleman Jacques de Sauvage was granted feudal rights to this plot of land. The Sauvage family developed the estate over the following two centuries and by 1711 had become its full owners. A decisive turning point came in 1785, when Françoise-Joséphine de Sauvage married Count Louis-Amédée de Lur-Saluces, and the château passed into the hands of that family.

The de Lur-Saluces family shaped the destiny of Yquem over the following two centuries. Françoise-Joséphine became a true legend: widowed at the age of 20 and imprisoned twice during the French Revolution for her royalist sympathies, she single-handedly managed the estate and expanded its reputation beyond the borders of France. Thomas Jefferson, who served as US Ambassador to France in the 1780s, became one of the estate’s most famous admirers, describing Sauternes as the finest white wine in France and ordering bottles for himself and George Washington.

The de Lur-Saluces family’s era lasted until 1999, when, following a protracted family dispute, LVMH acquired a controlling stake in the estate. Count Alexandre de Lur-Saluces continued to manage the estate until 2004, when he finally stepped down. Pierre Lourton was appointed estate manager, whilst Sandrine Garbay took up the post of head winemaker.

Vineyards

The estate comprises 113 hectares of vineyards on a gentle slope at the highest point of the Sauternes appellation, towering above the surrounding first- and second-growth vineyards. Of these 113 hectares, only around 100 are currently under production. Every year, between two and three hectares of the oldest vines are grubbed up, and the soil is left fallow for a year before replanting.

As newly planted vines require at least five years to produce fruit of acceptable quality, around 12 hectares are always out of production. The planting density is around 7,000 vines per hectare.

Terroir

The location of ‘Yquem’ at the summit of the Sauternes hill is not merely a geographical detail: it is an agricultural factor that underpins every bottle. The topsoil consists of flat pebbles and coarse gravel and is dry and warm. The clay subsoil retains moisture well, whilst over 100 kilometres of drainage pipes, laid as far back as the 19th century, prevent waterlogging. The proximity of the Ciron River, a cold tributary of the Garonne, creates a unique microclimate that makes Sauternes possible: on autumn mornings, the cold air from the Ciron meets the warmer air from the Garonne, forming thick morning mists that dissipate by midday.

It is precisely this cycle of mist and warmth that is essential for the proliferation of Botrytis cinerea, the fungus that causes noble rot.

Grapes

Only two varieties are used: Sémillon (around 75 per cent) and Sauvignon Blanc (25 per cent). Sémillon lends the wine body, texture and richness, whilst its thin skin makes it particularly susceptible to botrytis. Sauvignon Blanc brings freshness, aroma and acidity, and is harvested earlier. Together, they produce the golden, honeyed, long-lasting wine for which this estate is renowned.

Winemaking

The harvest at Yquem is unlike any other in the world. As botrytis develops unevenly both across the whole bunch and on individual berries, the pickers must walk through each row of vines several times, selecting only those berries that have reached precisely the right degree of shrivelling and concentration. In a typical year, the pickers make five or six passes through the vineyard; in challenging years, up to ten or more passes may be required. The picking team numbers between 140 and 200 people, and the work often continues well into November. Each vine yields approximately one glass of wine, and the yield ranges from 8 to 10 hectolitres per hectare.

After harvesting, the grapes are pressed within an hour of arriving at the cellar, and the juice is immediately transferred to 100 per cent new French oak barrels for fermentation. Due to the extremely high sugar content of the must, whose potential alcohol content sometimes reaches 18–30 degrees, fermentation proceeds slowly and can last up to six weeks. The wine is then aged in the same new oak barrels for around 30 months before bottling. In years when the harvest does not meet the estate’s standards, no wine is produced under the Château d’Yquem label. This occurred eleven times in the 20th century (amongst others 1910, 1915, 1930, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1972, 1974, 1992), most recently in 2012.

Wines

Château d’Yquem produces two wines. The Grand Vin is the golden Sauternes wine for which the estate is renowned; in good vintages, between 65,000 and 100,000 bottles are produced. Alongside this, ‘Y d’Yquem’, known as ‘Ygrec’, is a dry white wine made from grapes from the same vines, but harvested before botrytis has fully developed; its blend consists of approximately 80 per cent Sauvignon Blanc and 20 per cent Sémillon, a ratio almost the opposite of that of the estate’s main wine. Ygrec has been produced since 1959, initially only in selected years, and since 2005 in every vintage, with a production volume of around 10,000 bottles per year.

Both wines occupy a special niche on the hill, where exceptional wines have been produced for over four centuries.

The best vintages of D'Yquem

The legendary vintages of Château d’Yquem are: 1811 (the famous “comet year”), 1825, 1847, 1865, 1870, 1893, 1921, 1937, 1947, 1959, 1967, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2009, 2015 and 2023.

But actually all vintages produced are a pleasure to drink.