Sauternes
Sauternes is where arguably the world's finest sweet white wines are produced. The appellation consists of five communes: Barsac, Preignac, Bommes, Fargues and Sauternes itself. It literally has an atmosphere all of its own, a specific mesoclimate of evening autumn mists which linger until well into the following day. The result is an ideal environment for the growth of the mould botrytis cinerea.
Bottle
£33.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 19cs
The 2015 Château d'Yquem is a blend of 75% Semillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc that was picked on the gravelly soils as early as 3 and 4 September until 21 October, four tries through the vineyard. It delivers 144 grams per liter of residual sugar, with six-grams of tartaric acid, a pH 3.65 and 13.9% alcohol. It has a show-stopping bouquet that is beautifully defined and very complex and exuberant, infused with greater mineralité than recent vintages - intense but not as flamboyant as say the 2009 Yquem at this stage. The palate boasts absolutely stunning balance. This is a Yquem without a hair out of place: fantastically pure, botrytised fruit caressing the mouth. That is as per normal. What distinguishes this Yquem is the sense of electricity that is imbued by that razor-sharp acidity. There is just unbelievably tension here and to be frank, there is little point in me continuing to write this note, because it is simply an astonishing Yquem that will rank alongside the 2001 and 2009. Drink 2028 - 2090.
Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate
Mid gold. Very direct and glossy. Edge of veg and toast. Real tension! Tense pear juice with lots of grip and attack. Lots of acidity as well as all that sugar. Really energetic. Long. Amazing persistence. So neat. Real attack. Massive apparent acidity. Drink 2027 – 2055.
Jancis Robinson, jancisrobinson.com
H/Bottle 6 x 37.5cl 2cs
H/Bottle 6 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
Bottle 3 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 3 x 75cl 1cs
Gary Owen - Private Account Manager
Precise and clean on the nose with notes of white peach, red apple skin and lemon meringues. Refreshing throughout, hints of botrytised fruit are complemented by its zesty citrus personality. There's much focus here, underpinned by a touch of salinity and lemon flint towards the mouth-watering finish. 2014 Ygrec will make for a fine aperitif before the 2013 d'Yquem. Allow a couple of years for this to flesh out a little, and enjoy from 2017 onwards.
Chris Lamb - Private Account Manager
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Nick Pegna, SE Asia Director
Wow! Ch. Suduiraut is in Ch. d'Yquem's rear view mirror this year. It is almost as good and will be a fraction of the price. Enjoy it early.
Simon Staples, East Asia Fine Wine Director
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
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.
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
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 that this will be a year of great finesse and elegance for these wines.
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.
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 2cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
James Suckling - Wine Spectator - Apr-2005
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 2cs
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!
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Staples - Berrys' Sales Director
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 2cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl 2cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Robert Parker
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Staples - Asia Sales Director
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 2cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 4cs
Drink: 2020-2030
Ian D’Agata - decanter.com