Château d'Yquem

Sauternes

2005

Blend

80% Semillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc

Wine designation

Château d’Yquem, Sweet, 2005
Category: Sauternes, 1er Cru Supérieur, Bordeaux

Food pairing

Enjoy with foie gras, fine fish in sauce, or desserts.

Data sheet

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes

2005

Tasting notes

A pretty golden colour. Lots of richness and elegance, fresh, intense notes, delicate woodiness. Unctuous attack, perfectly balanced, with notes of honey, white pepper, quince and a hint of nectarine.

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: Oak barrels

18 to 24 months with 100% new oak barrels

Type of oak: French

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.