Sauternes White Wine

1990: An extraordinary effort, Yquem's 1990 is a rich and fabulously superb, sweet wine. This wine also possesses lots of elegance and finesse. The wine's medium gold color is accompanied by an exceptionally sweet nose of honeyed tropical fruits, peaches, coconut, and apricots. High quality, subtle toasty oak is well-integrated. The wine is massive on the palate, with layers of intensely ripe botrytis-tinged, exceptionally sweet fruit. Surprisingly well-integrated acidity, and a seamless, full-bodied power and richness have created a wine of remarkable harmony and purity. Certainly it is one of the richest Yquems I have ever tasted, with 50-100 years of potential longevity. An awesome Yquem! Anticipated maturity: 2003-2050+.

A sensational Yquem, 1997 may be this estate's finest effort since 1990 (although I would not discount the 1996 turning out to be nearly as good). The 1997's light gold color is accompanied a gorgeous perfume of caramel, honeysuckle, peach, apricot, and smoky wood. Full-bodied and unctuously-textured, with good underlying acidity as well as loads of sweetness and glycerin, it looks to be a great vintage for this renowned Sauternes estate. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2055.

Beautiful golden-yellow colour. Concentrated, very attractive bouquet of ripe fruit, stewed fruit, and vanilla biscuits. Round, very sweet, and well-balanced on the palate. Plenty of volume and a suave quality marvellously underpinned by acidity. The fruity, spicy, mentholated nuances are accompanied by a really beautiful smooth, elegant texture. While this vintage had low yields, the quality perfectly reflects the drastic selection made during picking and blending.

Beautiful golden-yellow colour. Concentrated, very attractive bouquet of ripe fruit, stewed fruit, and vanilla biscuits. Round, very sweet, and well-balanced on the palate. Plenty of volume and a suave quality marvellously underpinned by acidity. The fruity, spicy, mentholated nuances are accompanied by a really beautiful smooth, elegant texture. While this vintage had low yields, the quality perfectly reflects the drastic selection made during picking and blending.

Beautiful golden-yellow colour. Concentrated, very attractive bouquet of ripe fruit, stewed fruit, and vanilla biscuits. Round, very sweet, and well-balanced on the palate. Plenty of volume and a suave quality marvellously underpinned by acidity. The fruity, spicy, mentholated nuances are accompanied by a really beautiful smooth, elegant texture. While this vintage had low yields, the quality perfectly reflects the drastic selection made during picking and blending.

No tasting note was given.

No tasting note was given.

Wonderful, evocative orange marmalade and ginger flavors play around this rich wine. Its botrytis dryness doesn't detract from the intense sweetness, ripe apricots, spice and deliciously refreshing acidity. The richness is in the texture, but the ripeness is in the open, generous fruit.

The nose takes time to coalesce in the glass, very pure with honey, white peach, Turkish Delight honeysuckle, and beeswax. The palate is beautifully balanced, still with some oak to be subsumed, but has great depth and precision. This is a confident, almost ambitious Suduiraut with great power and intensity towards the botrytis-rich, viscous finish that is endowed with great persistency. Lovely. Drink now-2030.

The nose takes time to coalesce in the glass, very pure with honey, white peach, Turkish Delight honeysuckle, and beeswax. The palate is beautifully balanced, still with some oak to be subsumed, but has great depth and precision. This is a confident, almost ambitious Suduiraut with great power and intensity towards the botrytis-rich, viscous finish that is endowed with great persistency. Lovely. Drink now-2030.