1989 Château d'Yquem Sauternes Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note

51002 Views

1989
98
Freshness, purity, and more layers of roasted, apricots, pineapples, yellow plums, nuts, caramel, and spice slathered in honey and butterscotch are only part of what you will encounter here. It is the racy lift, and vibrance on the palate that makes it all work, finishing with its lively endnotes. As good as this is, it is only getting started. I imagine this will drink well for at least another 50-75 years if well stored. That is why d'Yquem is d'Yquem.

Freshness, purity, and more layers of roasted, apricots, pineapples, yellow plums, nuts, caramel, and spice slathered in honey and butterscotch are only part of what you will encounter here. It is the racy lift, and vibrance on the palate that makes it all work, finishing with its lively endnotes. As good as this is, it is only getting started. I imagine this will drink well for at least another 50-75 years if well stored. That is why d'Yquem is d'Yquem.

5,317 Views   Tasted
It is impossible to get tired of tasting d'Yquem. And why should they? With that special razor's edge of acidity that cuts through all the sweet, overripe, pineapple, apricot, mango, nut, and other assorted tropical fruits all coated with honey, this is a gem on your palate. It is incredible to think this is still in its adolescent stage. I am sure your grandchildren will be enjoying this wine in their old age.

It is impossible to get tired of tasting d'Yquem. And why should they? With that special razor's edge of acidity that cuts through all the sweet, overripe, pineapple, apricot, mango, nut, and other assorted tropical fruits all coated with honey, this is a gem on your palate. It is incredible to think this is still in its adolescent stage. I am sure your grandchildren will be enjoying this wine in their old age.

5,310 Views   Tasted
It is never the sweetness on its own that makes this work. It is the razor-edged acidity that makes the honeyed, tropical yellow and orange fruit, flowers, butterscotch, burnt caramel, and vanilla pop. Young, fresh, vibrant, full-bodied and complex, drink it now or save it for your kids. I am sure this will age for at least another 30-40 or 50 years if well-stored!

It is never the sweetness on its own that makes this work. It is the razor-edged acidity that makes the honeyed, tropical yellow and orange fruit, flowers, butterscotch, burnt caramel, and vanilla pop. Young, fresh, vibrant, full-bodied and complex, drink it now or save it for your kids. I am sure this will age for at least another 30-40 or 50 years if well-stored!

4,495 Views   Tasted
This just keeps getting better and better, like all great wines! Thick and rich, with enough extract of ripe and over ripe tropical fruit slathered in honey that you want to eat it. But the racy acidity keeps it all in check. Drink this now, wait a year, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years of gift it to your kids. Great stuff!

This just keeps getting better and better, like all great wines! Thick and rich, with enough extract of ripe and over ripe tropical fruit slathered in honey that you want to eat it. But the racy acidity keeps it all in check. Drink this now, wait a year, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years of gift it to your kids. Great stuff!

5,135 Views   Tasted
The right, no make that perfect balance of freshness, sweetness and honey slathered fruit that coats your palate with the essence of ripe, very ripe and extremely ripe.

The right, no make that perfect balance of freshness, sweetness and honey slathered fruit that coats your palate with the essence of ripe, very ripe and extremely ripe.

5,831 Views   Tasted
No matter how many times I taste this elixir, it's always an exciting tasting experience. I've been lucky enough to have tasted this vintage twice, in the last 3 three and both times, the pineapple, floral, vanilla, apricot, spice and white peaches drenched in honey made a compelling bouquet. On the palate, over the years the wine has continued putting on weight and gaining new levels of complexity. There is a beautiful purity to the fruit that is not found in other wines. The acidity keeps it fresh and lively. At 24 years of age, it's still a baby. Drink it now, or save it for your lucky grandchildren.

No matter how many times I taste this elixir, it's always an exciting tasting experience. I've been lucky enough to have tasted this vintage twice, in the last 3 three and both times, the pineapple, floral, vanilla, apricot, spice and white peaches drenched in honey made a compelling bouquet. On the palate, over the years the wine has continued putting on weight and gaining new levels of complexity. There is a beautiful purity to the fruit that is not found in other wines. The acidity keeps it fresh and lively. At 24 years of age, it's still a baby. Drink it now, or save it for your lucky grandchildren.

7,082 Views   Tasted
Rich, filled with honey covered tropical fruit and acidity to give it lift should deliver pleasure for decades.

Rich, filled with honey covered tropical fruit and acidity to give it lift should deliver pleasure for decades.

7,359 Views   Tasted
Honeyed apricots, flowers, vanilla, oak aromas were easy to catch. Very rich and fat on the palate. Beautiful, seamless finish.

Honeyed apricots, flowers, vanilla, oak aromas were easy to catch. Very rich and fat on the palate. Beautiful, seamless finish.

5,272 Views   Tasted
Yquem has a unique style that’s not duplicated. Ripe, honeyed pineapple, peach, nectarine, apricot and orange flowers fill the perfume. Rich, concentrated but with enough acidity toe keep it fresh. The long, honey drenched finish is a pleasure and treat.

Yquem has a unique style that’s not duplicated. Ripe, honeyed pineapple, peach, nectarine, apricot and orange flowers fill the perfume. Rich, concentrated but with enough acidity toe keep it fresh. The long, honey drenched finish is a pleasure and treat.

5,201 Views   Tasted

When to Drink Chateau d'Yquem, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau d'Yquem can be enjoyed on the young side with no decanting. Of course, the wine is sweet, but there is so much, incredible, racy acidity, the wine always feels fresh, and never cloying, which makes it quite fun to enjoy young. With Chateau d'Yquem and frankly, all Sauternes, the temperature is more important than decanting.

Chateau d'Yquem is delicious on release. But d'Yquem does not reach full maturity for 35-50 years, or even longer in the best vintages! That is when the magic happens! But that is unrealistic for 99% of the world's wine drinkers. So, enjoy it on any special occasion that calls for it.

Serving Chateau d'Yquem with Wine and Food Pairings

Chateau d'Yquem is best served at 14 degrees Celsius, 57 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift. The wine will naturally, slowly warm in the glass, while it develops more aromatic complexities and fleshes out.

Chateau d'Yquem can be served with seafood dishes, especially shellfish, lobster, crab, and oysters on the half shell. Foie gras is a perfect pairing with its natural sweet, salty and savory characteristics. Chateau d'Yquem can also be paired with roasted chicken, veal, and pork dishes that are either spicy or prepared with a touch of sweetness.

Spicy Asian cuisine, raw fish, like sushi or sashimi, and cheese, both hard and soft also make great pairings with Chateau d'Yquem.

Chateau d'Yquem Dry White Wine

Chateau d'Yquem also produces a dry, white Bordeaux wine called "Y," which is pronounced (Ygrec). The wine is only made in select vintages. The first vintage for the production of dry, white wine at Chateau d'Yquem took place in 1959.

To make the dry white Bordeaux wine of d'Yquem, the fruit the estate uses does not only come from declassified grapes. Most of the berries are picked before the harvesting of the grapes for the production of Chateau d'Yquem has started.

When harvesting for Ygrec, the vines and grapes are chosen prior to harvest. However, while one bunch of Sauvignon Blanc on the vine is designated for Ygrec, the remaining bunch can be used for d'Yquem, if the necessary amount of noble rot develops.

For the Semillon used in Ygrec, the grapes are harvested just prior to the full development of noble rot.

Close to 80% of the parcels used to produce their dry white wine can change from vintage to vintage.

The blend of "Y" is normally close to 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillon. Interestingly, this is almost the complete opposite of the grape blend that is placed in Chateau d'Yquem! Since 2000, it has become more common to see vintages of "Y," than in previous years.

This is due to an increase in production. However starting with 2005, Ygrec has been made in every vintage. Today, slightly less than 1,000 cases are produced of "Y" each year.

To produce the dry white Bordeaux wine from d'Yquem, the wine is vinified in stainless steel vats. In fact, in 2012, the estate added several new, gleaming, stainless steel for the vinification. There is no malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged in 50% new, French oak barrels for an average of 10 months.

During its aging time, the wine is aged on its lees. This marks a major change in the wine, as previously, the wine was aged for up to 18 months in barrel before bottling.

Starting with the 2011 vintage, the chateau completely redesigned the label for "Y". The dry white wine of Yquem, "Y" is sold as a Bordeaux Superieur Blanc. Chateau d'Yquem does not produce a second wine. Instead, they declassify unwanted grapes or wine.

While the estate strives to make vintages of Chateau d'Yquem every year, that is not always possible. Chateau d'Yquem ended up declassifying the entire harvest and did not make wine in the following vintages, 1910, 1915, 1930, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1972, 1974, 1992, and 2012.

Even with as many as thirteen separate passes in the vineyards, as the grapes were not up to their high standard to produce a wine worthy of Chateau d'Yquem, they did not produce any wine in those years.

So, what does Chateau d'Yquem do with the declassified wine? In the past, declassified grapes that were not used in the production of their dry, white wine "Y", were sold off in bulk and used to produce a generic, Sauternes wine.

Today, declassified grapes are also used to produce a special blend of declassified d'Yquem that is only available to employees through internal sales at the property. The wine is not meant to be sold as a commercial product. The wine is classed as a generic AOC Sauternes wine.

www.yquem.fr