Château d'Yquem () is a ''
Premier Cru Supérieur'' (
Fr: "Superior First Growth") wine from the
Sauternes, Gironde region in the southern part of the
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
vineyards known as
Graves. In the
Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855
The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the Exposition Universelle (1855), 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III of France, Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordea ...
, Château d'Yquem was the only
Sauternes given this rating, indicating its perceived superiority and higher prices over all other wines of its type. Yquem's success stems largely from the site's susceptibility to attack by "
noble rot
Noble rot (; ; ; ) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires warm and humid conditions, typically around 20 degrees Celsius and above 80% humidity. If the weather ...
" (a particular kind of infestation by ''
Botrytis cinerea
''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as "botrytis bunch rot"; in horticulture, it is usually called "grey mould" ...
'').
Wines from Château d'Yquem are characterised by their complexity, concentration and
sweetness
Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...
, which is balanced by relatively high acidity. With proper care, a bottle will keep for a
century or more,
and the fruity overtones will gradually fade and integrate with more complex secondary and tertiary flavours.
[
Since 1959, Château d'Yquem has also produced a dry white wine called ''Ygrec'' (the name of the letter "Y" in French), made predominantly from ]Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...
and a few lots of Sémillon
Sémillon () is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, mostly in French wine, France and Australian wine, Australia. Its thin skin and susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea, botrytis make it dominate the sweet wine region S ...
. It was originally produced only in select years; since 2004 it has been produced every year.
History
Chateau d'Yquem was acquired by Jacques de Sauvage in December 1593. De Sauvage acquired the property from the French monarchy by exchanging other lands that he owned for what was then referred to as the 'House of Yquem'. The site has been home to a vineyard
A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
since at least 1711 when the estate became fully owned by Léon de Sauvage d'Yquem. In 1785 it passed to the Lur-Saluces family when Françoise-Joséphine de Sauvage d'Yquem married Count Louis-Amédée de Lur-Saluces, a godson of Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
and Lady Victoire de France. Monsieur Lur-Saluces died three years later, and his wife subsequently focused her energy on sustaining and improving the estate.
While Minister Plenipotentiary to France, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
visited the château and later wrote, "Sauterne. sic">/nowiki>sic">sic.html" ;"title="/nowiki>sic">/nowiki>sic/nowiki> This is the best white wine of France and the best of it is made by Monsieur de Lur-Saluces."[ Jefferson ordered 250 bottles of the 1784 vintage for himself, and additional bottles for George Washington. However, at that time the technique of allowing ]noble rot
Noble rot (; ; ; ) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires warm and humid conditions, typically around 20 degrees Celsius and above 80% humidity. If the weather ...
to infect grapes had not yet been discovered, so the wine Jefferson was drinking was a different and less sweet wine.
The 1811 Château d'Yquem, a comet vintage, has exhibited what wine experts like Robert Parker have described as exceptional longevity
Longevity may refer to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is defined Statistics, statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age. For example, a population's life expectancy at birth ...
with Parker scoring the wine a perfect 100 points when tasted in 1996.[Harding, Graham (2005). ''A Wine Miscellany''. New York: Clarkson Potter Publishing. pp. 45–47. ]
Since 1968
After the 1968 death of the Marquis Bernard de Lur-Saluces, the château was run by Comte Alexandre de Lur-Saluces, a minority (7%) owner. The Comte inherited a typical annual production of 66,000 bottles a year. After the 1973 oil crisis
In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...
, demand fell and prices plummeted. The price of a bottle of d'Yquem dropped to 35 francs; prices began to rise only in the 1980s.
Under the Comte's leadership, "tractors replaced horses, collapsing cellars were renovated, and unused acreage was planted", with production in good years reaching 100,000 bottles and sales about $10 million.
Following a bitter family feud and the decision of Eugene de Lur-Saluces (Alexandre's other brother) to sell part of his 47% share of the business, on 28 November 1996, to the French luxury goods giant LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton bought 55% of Château d'Yquem from the family of the Comte Alexandre de Lur-Saluces for about $100 million. The Comte, after first challenging the sale in court for over two years, was kept as the manager of the estate.
On 17 May 2004, the Comte retired and was replaced by the current managing director of Château Cheval Blanc, Pierre Lurton. The Comte had been known for being particularly dedicated towards maintaining quality, going so far as to reject an entire batch of the wine if he did not like the results of a randomised testing.
In 2006, a 135-year vertical (containing every vintage from 1860 to 2003) was sold by The Antique Wine Company in London for $1.5 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a single lot of wine. Also that year, Dior
Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior, is a French Multinational corporation, multinational luxury goods company that is controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH. , Dior controlled around 42% of ...
and Château d'Yquem together created a skin care product made from the sap of the Yquem vines.
In July 2011, an 1811 bottle of Château d'Yquem sold for £75,000 ($117,000) at The Ritz Hotel, London
The Ritz London is a Hotel rating, 5-star luxury hotel at 150 Piccadilly in London, England. A symbol of high society and luxury, the hotel is one of the world's most prestigious and best known. The Ritz has become so associated with luxury an ...
to a private collector, Christian Vannequé, to become the most expensive bottle of white wine ever sold.
Production
The vineyard has in the Sauternes appellation, though only are in production at any time. Each year, vines from two to three hectares are grubbed up and left fallow for a year. Since grapes from newly planted vines are not worthy of the chateau name for five to seven years, about 20 hectares are held in reserve each year. The vines consist of 80% Sémillon
Sémillon () is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, mostly in French wine, France and Australian wine, Australia. Its thin skin and susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea, botrytis make it dominate the sweet wine region S ...
and 20% Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...
, though the latter's vigour implies the proportions are more nearly equal in the final wine.
Harvesting is carefully timed, and on average six tries through the vineyard are undertaken each year to ensure that only the botrytized grapes are selected. The yield averages nine hectolitres per hectare (2.5 acres), compared to the usual twelve to twenty hectolitres per hectare in Sauternes. The grapes are pressed three times and transferred to oak barrels for maturation over a period of about three years.
On average, 65,000 bottles are produced each year. In a poor vintage, the entire crop is deemed unworthy of bearing the Château's name and sold anonymously; this happened nine times in the 20th century: 1910, 1915, 1930, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1972, 1974, and 1992 and in the 21st century one time: 2012.
Vintages
See also
* Château Raymond-Lafon[Coates, Clive (2004). ''The Wines of Bordeaux''. University of California Press. pp. 248-249. ]
References
*Echikson, William (2004). ''Noble rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution''. New York: W.W. Norton. Chapters 7, 11.
*Amon, Michael. ''Yquem oder Schlafende Konten'', eDITION vortschritt, Wien 2011, Roman/Novel (german Language), überarbeitete Neuauflage. Michael Amon
;Footnotes
External links
Château d'Yquem official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yquem, Chateau
Bordeaux wine producers
LVMH brands
Comité Colbert members