2010 Château d'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux

2010 Château d'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux

Product: 20108004787
Prices start from £990.00 per case Buying options
2010 Château d'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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Price per case
6 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 2 cases £1,650.00
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New To BBX
6 x 37.5cl half bottle
Berry Bros. & Rudd BB&R 3 cases £990.00
En Primeur Limited availability
En Primeur Limited availability
12 x 37.5cl half bottle
Berry Bros. & Rudd BB&R 2 cases £1,980.00
En Primeur Limited availability
En Primeur Limited availability
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Description

Sauternes has bucked the trend this year by enjoying higher than normal yields, but the drought thickened the skins of the grapes and thus made it harder for the much sought-after noble rot (botrytis) to take hold. However, the long, dry autumn allowed the growers to wait and, when the time was right, they were able to harvest a good crop of beautifully sweet grapes but without huge levels of botrytis.

As such, Yquem displays a fabulous clean, pure sweetness, with aromas of citrus peel honey and apricot, and not a hint of any cloying character. The finish is very long and, while not as opulent as 2007 or as profoundly complex as 2001, the wine is very much more in the register of elegance, and thus bears comparison with the lovely 1988.

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Critics reviews

Neal Martin, Vinous94/100

The 2010 Yquem has an attractive bouquet with marmalade, caramelized pear, orange pith and light puff pastry notes. It just needs a little more delineation. The palate is very well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, lightly spiced and impressive focus. Like the aromatics, I would have just liked a little more precision on the finish. 

Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.

Drink 2024 - 2060

Neal Martin, Vinous.com (April 2020)

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Wine Advocate98/100

Pale to medium lemon-gold colour, the 2010 d'Yquem has retreated into its shell at this youthful stage, offering spritely suggestions of lemon curd, lime cordial and green mango with wafts of honeysuckle, spice cake, sea spray and beeswax plus a hint of gingerbread. 

The palate really comes through with super intense, tightly wound citrus, savoury and mineral layers carried by a laser-precise backbone of freshness, finishing with crazy persistence that lingers a full three minutes and then some. This is going to be a very exotic, opulent Yquem!

Drink 2025 - 2065

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate (March 2020)

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Jancis Robinson MW17/20

Tasted blind. Broad and spicy, fat apricot flavours. Really deep flavours but could do with a little more freshness to balance. Long bitter-orange finish, extreme depth, but lacks zip. 

Drink 2020 - 2035

Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com (April 2020)

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James Suckling97/100

The purity of Botrytis in this wine is so impressive with dried fruits such as apple and mango. And then there is a spicy character. Full body and very sweet, but it is incredibly fresh and lively. Such class and elegance. Perfectly manicured wine. Everything is in the right place. This shows a delicacy and intensity that are spellbinding. 

Drink from 2018 onwards.

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (February 2013)

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About this WINE

Château d’Yquem

Château d’Yquem

Château d’Yquem is the leading estate in the Sauternes appellation on the Left Bank of Bordeaux. It has long been reputed for making one of the world’s great sweet wines. In the 1855 classification of Bordeaux wines, Yquem was given the lofty title of Premier Cru Supérieur – the sole property at that level. It sits comfortably among the First Growths of the Médoc and their equivalents on the Right Bank regarding its quality and prestige among wine collectors.

The estate has a noble history dating back to the 1590s. By 1711, it was owned by the Sauvage family, French aristocrats whose descendants would remain at the helm for almost three centuries. Yquem is now part of the Louis Vuitton Moët-Hennessy (LVMH) group, owned by Bernard Arnault, one of France’s wealthiest people.

Yquem is located in the heart of Sauternes, at the commune’s highest point and surrounded by many of the appellation’s other leading estates. The vineyard is planted to a majority of Sémillon, supported by Sauvignon Blanc. There are 113 hectares of vines, though only 100 hectares are used in any one vintage.

To make a bottle of Yquem depends on developing botrytis cinerea, the so-called “noble rot”, in the vineyard. Harvest involves up to 200 workers, passing through the vineyard up to 10 times to pick only those berries that have been infected with noble rot. This doesn’t happen uniformly, and it doesn’t happen every year. In some years, no Yquem is produced at all – as in 1964 or, most recently, 2012. Of this approach, President Pierre Lurton says: “It’s important to take a lot of risk. If you don’t take a risk, you don’t make Yquem.”

Today, Yquem is led by Pierre Lurton, its longtime President, along with Estate Manager Lorenzo Pasquini. The Cellar Master is Toni El Khawand, following the departure of Sandrine Garbay in 2022.

In addition to the sweet Sauternes produced here, there is also a dry white wine, Y (pronounced “ee-greck”).

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Sauternes

Sauternes

Sauternes is where arguably the world's finest sweet white wines are produced. The Sauternes appellation actually consists of five communes: Barsac, Preignac, Bommes, Fargues and Sauternes itself. Barsac is also an appellation in its own right.

Sauternes literally has an atmosphere different from any of the other major communes. At the southern tip of the Graves,close to the Garonne, not only is the land hillier and decidedly more bucolic but it also enjoys a specific mesoclimate of evening autumn mists which linger until well into the following day, unless burnt off by warm sunshine.

The mists are caused by the cool, spring-fed waters of the Ciron River meeting the warmer tidal Garonne, and the result is an ideal environment for the growth of the mould botrytis cinerea. When its arrival is felicitous, it feeds on the water in the ripe grapes, dehydrating them and leaving sweet, shriveled fruit.

Other regions in Bordeaux (ie Cadillac, Loupiac) produce wines in a similar style from the same method, but none achieve the profundity and complexity of Sauternes.

Recommended Châteaux : Ch. D'Yquem, Ch. Climens (Barsac), Ch. Suduiraut, Ch. Rieussec,  Sigalas- Rabaud, Ch. Coutet (Barsac), Ch. de Fargues, Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Ch. Doisy-Védrines (Barsac), Chateau Partarrieu, La Tour Blanche

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Sauvignon Blanc & Sémillon

Sauvignon Blanc & Sémillon

The blend used for White Graves and Sauternes and rarely encountered outside France. In the great dry whites of Graves, Sauvignon Blanc tends to predominate in the blend, although properties such as Smith Haut Lafite use 100% Sauvignon Blanc while others such as Laville Haut Brion have as much as 60% Sémillon in their final blends. Sauvignon Blanc wines can lose their freshness and fruit after a couple of years in bottle - if blended with Sémillon, then the latter bolsters the wine when the initial fruit from the Sauvignon fades. Ultimately Sauvignon Blanc gives the wine its aroma and raciness while Sémillon gives it backbone and longevity.

In Sauternes, Sémillon is dominant, with Sauvignon Blanc playing a supporting role - it is generally harvested about 10 days before Sémillon and the botrytis concentrates its sweetness and dampens Sauvignon Blanc`s naturally pungent aroma. It contributes acidity, zip and freshness to Sauternes and is an important component of the blend.

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