Château d'Yquem

Sauternes

2021

Blend

65% Semillon, 35% Sauvignon Blanc

Wine designation

Château d’Yquem, Sweet, 2021
Category: Sauternes, 1er cru supérieur, Bordeaux

Food pairing

Serve with foie gras or accompany it with a simple dish, with spices that are not too pronounced like roast chicken.

Data sheet

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes

2021

Tasting notes

A fresh, almondy nose, with hints of pear and more exotic nuances such as pineapple. On the palate, there’s a pleasant texture with jammy notes of lemon and orange, followed by an evolution towards fresher, more delicate floral notes. This wine stands out for its great finesse and perfect balance, offering a smooth, powerful mouthfeel, with a long, extremely rich 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: Oak barrels.

20 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.