2020 Chateau Yquem 750ml

The 2020 Château d'Yquem a blend of 75% Sémillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc. It has 135 grams per liter of residual sugar and a pH of 3.79. Pale lemon-gold colored, citrus and baking spice notes emerge slowly from the glass, rising to offer well-defined scents of candied ginger, orange blossoms, allspice, and almond tart, leading to a flamboyant core of peach cobbler, ripe, juicy pineapple, jasmine tea, and apple butter with a waft of saffron. The palate is full-bodied and characteristically rich, yet possesses impressive tension and therefore stunning harmony. Layers of exotic spices and fragrant white flower accents fill the palate, leading to a long finish with lingering chalk and mineral nuances. It’s a showy Yquem that is gregarious in youth but is reserving that extra something for those with the patience to wait twenty years or more. 97 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW - The Wine Independant

Yquem, a legendary wine Great wines are not born just anywhere. A unique set of climatic and geological conditions combine to form a rare equilibrium. This is undoubtedly the case at Yquem, which epitomises all that is best about the singular winegrowing environment in Sauternes. The one and only to be ranked 1er Cru Supérieur in 1855. The magical and fragile microclimate gives birth to this exceptional wine which reveals its elegance and complexity during the tasting. The 2020 vintage “Château d’Yquem 2020 is a vintage of great finesse, endowed with a crystalline and luminous character.” Pierre Lurton. A warm and rainy spring followed by a wet yet cool month of June then by a hot, dry summer. September sunshine led to a generous first round of picking, particularly for the Sauvignon Blanc grapes, providing all their aromas and the fine acidity invaluable to each blend. Late September rainfall was conducive to the even spread of Botrytis cinerea. We had to wait until the weekend of 18 October, with a spell of five days of sunshine and strong south-easterly winds, to achieve a spectacular concentration of fully botrytised grapes. Tasting notes "2020 Château d’Yquem shows a seductive nose with floral notes such as lime blossom and wild roses, mingled with fruity aromas of prickly pear, Mirabelle plum and fresh apricot. Freshness and sunny aromas, reminiscent of orange marmalade and mandarin, are perfectly balanced on the palate. The long, delicious finishis tinged with an elegant, zesty bitterness."