With a long-standing tradition of producing quality wines that began when Jacques Sauvage first started producing wines at Yquem, Château d’Yquem was awarded the Premier Cru Supérieur classification in 1855. The estate was passed to the Lur-Saluces family. Thomas Jefferson visited the estate in 1784, writing about the wine’s quality. The estate was then run by Comte Alexandre de Lur-Saluces until 1996, when the LVMH Moët Hennessy brand purchased a majority share of the estate, striving to maintain tradition while remaining open to modernization.