2003 Château d'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux

2003 Château d'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux

Product: 20038004787
Prices start from £1,190.00 per case Buying options
2003 Château d'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux

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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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12 x 37.5cl half bottle
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6 x 150cl magnum
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Description

Ch. d'Yquem reported 2003 as the hottest year since 1896, the previous hottest being the 1976 which provided a superb wine with excellent botrytis which is now showing at its best. Ch. d'Yquem conclude their report: "This unusual vintage will no doubt remain a benchmark for many years to come. An extraordinary summer, "total" botrytis, and the sacrifice of part of the estate made it possible to harvest grapes with optimum fruit and and concentration thanks to unusually clean botrtization."

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Critics reviews

Jancis Robinson MW18/20
Deeply coloured. Perfumed and dark and rocky on the nose. A hint of pepper but the most elegant, restrained dark-red fruit. Just a touch of oak spice. Savoury spice not sweet spice. Incredibly tender tannins. They did three punchdowns a day but did not push down to the bottom of the tank. There’s power in the mid palate but it is delicate on the finish, such tannic finesse that you almost miss the power of the vintage. Darkness to the fruit shows the ripeness. Very very long and so elegant already. Oak eaten by the fruit. A definite mineral/pepper layer adds to the freshness. Mouth-watering even if the acidity is only moderate (pH 3.65). Well balanced at 13.7%.

Drink 2025-2040

Julia Harding, jancisrobinson.com (Nov 2019) Read more
Wine Advocate94/100
Served from an ex-chateau bottle. Picked in one trie, the 2003 Chateau dYquem is slightly deeper in color compared to the 2004. It is attired with an intriguing bouquet with Manuka honey, quince, honeycomb and a touch of nougat, though it does not have the pixilation of a top vintage. The palate is unctuous right from the start: gloopy in texture with hedonistic ripe honeyed fruit laced with orange zest and a strong spicy note on the finish. It has moderate length, but finishes with plenty of glycerine in the mouth. This is certainly the finest 2003 Sauternes.
Neal Martin - 26/06/2014 Read more

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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