Sauternes

This Sauternes from the Rothschild stable is often under-rated. The Muscadelle adds a light, honeyed white-blossom bouquet to the richer, botrytis notes – with classic aromas of marmalade, apricot, pineapple and peaches. There is still a zing of citrus to the palate, balancing the wine’s intense sweetness. This will open up before the 2015.

Waxed apple skins, lemon pith and gentle florality combine with a wet stone note to give an enticingly fresh punch to the wine. I love the vitality this offers and the palate adds a full, textured, broad and buttery style where the fruit and oak are balanced by a very focused grapefruit like acidity. This is a big wine with a big crunchy finish that keeps the taste buds tingling long after the wine has gone. Excellent weight and lift have resulted in a standout Ygrec, so Yquem have two great wines to boast about this year. On this evidence 2013 is a must buy vintage for those who like their dry white Bordeaux.
Peter Newton – Private Account Manager


The 2013 Ygrec has a vibrant and complex nose with aromas of nectarine, lemongrass and chamomile. Despite its youth, there is a wealth of fleshy fruit, tropical pineapple and white flower flavours, enhanced by a refreshing acidity with adds a purity to the palate. Perfectly balanced. The subtle smoky musk further enhances the layers and depth of flavour which gently leaves you with a lingering imprint of vivid Sauvignon on your tongue. Although super now, I suspect this will evolve and improve with a further 10 years aging.
Laura Atkinson - Private Account Manager

Breathtakingly complex and vibrant nose of lightly burnt creme brulee, white peaches, apricots, mustard seed and gorgeous light new oak heralds the way to the most magnificent mouth-filling essence. With the texture of melted butter and a perfect balance of precision acidity it feels as fresh,zingy and exciting as any wine you can imagine with a concentration you cant imagine. Total nectar. If the nose and the palate aren't enough to blow you away the 30 minute (at least) after taste is ethereal.
Simon Staples - Berrys' Sales Director

The 2001 vintage resulted in truly exceptional, hedonistic sweet wines in Sauternes, and the Cru Classé estate Ch. Guiraud produced a very fine and rich example. A perfumed bouquet of honey, beeswax and honeysuckle entices – and the palate doesn’t disappoint, with good acidity supported by a glorious freshness. The finish is long, persistent and intense. This is a classy wine from a classy estate.

Delicate aromas and flavours of hibiscus and peony, plus orchard fruit and honey. Elegant, fresh, juicy and vibrant. One of the more refined Sauternes of the vintage.
Drink: 2020-2030
Ian D’Agata - decanter.com

The case contains one bottle each of the following wines presented in a wooden box:

2012 Ch. d'Yquem, Sauternes
2013 Ch. d'Yquem, Sauternes

As the only 1er Grand Cru Classé Sauternes estate since the Médoc Classification of 1855, Ch. d’Yquem requires little introduction as one of the world’s longest-lived sweet white wines.

Perfectly positioned at the highest point of the 20km strip along the Garonne valley, Ch. D’Yquem overlooks it neighbouring peers with its 100 hectares of 75% Semillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc vines thriving in their unique microclimate: south facing, warm soils with perfect drainage, optimum conditions for growth of botrytis, and maximum exposure to sunlight and tempering winds. Put simply, Yquem is a phenomenal sweet wine, perhaps the ultimate, which will bring immense enjoyment at any point throughout its life span.

Meticulous care and attention is taken with over 50 techniques in the vineyard & winery. These are wines of sheer class and rarity, the epitome of Sauternes.

2013 Ch. d'Yquem, Sauternes
Simply put they don’t come much better than this. Yquem sparked my love for wine and my enthusiasm and taste buds have just been refreshed with this delectable 2013. Supremely elegant and effortless it brings an instant sense of calm and relaxation to ones thoughts. Gentle aromas of soft white fruits are complemented by subtle yet vibrant apricot, delicate oak notes and a generous helping of botrytis.

Beautifully silky and unforced, there are notes of dried papaya, pear and pineapple here, all cloaked in a thin sheen of honey and caramel that leaves you in an almost zen like state of well-being. The sweetness is perfectly balanced with a fresh streak that also gives rise to an attractive bite of apricot kernel to the long, flowing finish. It perhaps doesn’t quite reach the heights of the remarkable 2001 but it is

Ch. d`Yquem is often described as the greatest sweet wine in the world and who can doubt it when they produce wines like this. With an enticing nose of toasted nuts, vanilla cream and soft orange marmalade the palate is as impeccable as ever.

Rieussec is always such a benchmark Sauternes and seems to deliver reliably year in, year out. A rewarding wine, this would be a fine addition to any cellar.

Acquired in 2006 by Olivier Bernard from Domaine de Chevalier, together with three other vignerons and the Peugeot Family, this property can only be on the road to success. It has great intensity on the nose with touch of oranges, apricots and pineapple, and a delicious, viscous, yet fresh mid-palate. The energy in this wine makes you reach for another sip and the finish is intense and very persistent: a lovely wine.
Max Lalondrelle, BBR Bordeaux Wine Buyer

Ch. d’Yquem’s dry white wine, of which approximately 10,000 bottles are produced, comprising a Sauvignon Blanc dominated blend with Semillon. The fruit for the Ygrec is sourced from the same vineyards as the d’Yquem, the 2015 vintage provided ideal weather condition conducive to the style of Ygrec; early ripening Sauvignon Blanc was harvested from 25th – 27th August retaining its freshness, with the ripe Sémillon grapes harvested a week later on 3rd and 4th September having developed a fraction of botrytis. A complete balance between the respective qualities derived from these two Bordeaux white grape varieties owes to the fabulous character of this rare, dry Sauternes.

Tasted twice, and both times impressing with its finesse. A wonderful bouquet of honeyed orange zest and acacia, followed by great elegance on the palate with a laser-sharp sense of natural sweetness. Purity again the hallmark, as seems to be the case this year with the Sauternes.

Wow, what a wine! I totally agree with where the Chateau are coming from as I had the same feeling when I tasted the 2001. Definitely worth the wait but all we need to know is the price! So complex and perfectly layered, tropical fruits with the signature marmalade on the finish you really could drink this now. If you have this in the cellar and can be patient then I suspect you will be very happy in about 40 years or if you’re impatient don’t worry, you won’t be disappointed.
Ben Upjohn - Fine Wine Sales Manager 

The long awaited 2011 release certainly doesn’t disappoint and draws inevitable comparison to their faultless 2001. Wondrous flavours; pineapple, peach, mango, orange zest, honey, ginger and blossom. Voluptuous across the palate, multi layered but it is the balance and finesse which is simply remarkable. Precise and fresh, somehow ‘light on its feet’. An ethereal d’Yquem for which the word finesse could have been created. A long future awaits....
Martyn Rolph - Private Account Manager


In putting forward our notes on Yquem I can do little better than quote the charming, highly talented winemaker at the property, Sandrine Garbay, who told us that “ it was wonderful year for Sauternes with perfect autumnal conditions for botrytis, or noble rot. Acidities are on the low side but there is a great freshness and purity to the wine”.

Little to add, really, but we’ll have a go. The bouquet is very clean and appealing, with notes of stone fruit such as apricot and peach along with some citrus zest. On the palate the sweetness is crystalline and pure, not remotely cloying, and the finish is again wonderfully fresh and enticing. A wine that will come round quite early, I feel, and despite its apparent low acidity it does not feel at all heavy or unbalanced. This was the first Sauternes we tasted but subsequent experience indicated

Rieussec is always such a benchmark Sauternes and seems to deliver reliably year in, year out. The bouquet is more opulent than some, with classic aromas of ripe stone fruit allied to a honied richness, while the palate has a creamy texture and lovely complexity and intensity.

The finish is long and balanced and the overall impression is of a deeply rewarding wine. Still, one can feel a great sense of freshness, which seems to me to becoming one of the hallmarks, and a very attractive one, too, of this vintage in Sauternes.

Ch. Suduiraut’s 90 hectares of 1er Cru Classé vineyards have produced another fantastic Sauternes in 2014. It emerged as our preferred Sauternes wine, along with Ch. d’Yquem, and possesses all the glorious sweetness of fruit one would expect in this type of wine.

With orange blossom, apricot and peach flavors – and a wonderful honeyed nose - the wine has huge concentration too and a perfect balancing acidity. Classically Suduiraut, with it’s fresh style of citrus and hints of kiwi fruit, it is a wine of great balance and purity. The finish is breathtakingly harmonious, with layers upon layers of complex, seductive flavours. – none of last year’s mangoes this time!

Warm, rich, honeyed crème brûlée topping on the nose with a lush, decadent and plump mouthfeel, attractive freshness and impressive length. Ch. Rieussec rivals Ch. d'Yquem but is behind Ch. Suduiraut...Just!

Intense and luscious with ripe notes of orange peel and pineapple, the 2009 Suduiraut is our favourite Sauternes of the vintage. The palate has a wonderful depth of rich citrus and passionfruit flavours whilst a vanilla cream note adds to the broad, lush, honeyed mouthfeel. Crisp acidity adds freshness, making this an absolutely delicious Sauternes.