Château d'Yquem

Sauternes

2011

Blend

80% Sémillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc

Wine designation

Château d’Yquem, Sweet, 2011
Category: Sauternes, 1er cru supérieur, Bordeaux

Food pairing

Pair with a classic choice of foie gras, or alongside a roasted chicken with apricot glaze or even alongside a grilled lobster with herb butter.

Data sheet

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes

2011

Tasting notes

A very good year, harvest started much earlier than normal, with a vintage that has a lovely mix of fragrances, honeysuckle backed by tropical fruits such as dried mango, pineapple and papaya. Spiced undertones of nutmeg with orange peel. A very subtle hint of toasted oak, long finish.

Vineyard

Vineyard size: 114 hectares

Soil composition: Gravel based with sandy subsoil, clay-limestone subsoil along the lower portions of the slope.

Winemaking

Fermentation container: Barrels – each day’s harvest is fermented separately.

Maceration technique: Barrel

Aging: 42 months with 100% new oak barrels.

New

Type of oak: French

Bottles produced: 10 000 cases

Winemaker: Sandrine Garbay

Heritage in the vineyard

Domaine

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.

Green in the vineyard

Environmental practices

In transition to becoming organically certified, the estate is focusing on changes to soil tilling and the use of cover crops to improve the soil structure. A fundamental pillar is their commitment to excellence and high standards for each vintage, consistently producing only the best vintages year after year, even if it means certain vintages do not reach production.