Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes 1er grand cru classé 2018 Yquem
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Wine details
Size
0,75lt
Availability
1
Vintage
2018
Producer
Chateau d Yquem
Country
France
Region
Bordeaux
About this wine
hateau d’Yquem is no like no other sweet wine in the world. It combines compelling aromatics of flowers, honey, tropical fruits, vanilla, stone, apricot, white peaches, grilled nuts, and oranges when young. As the wine ages, it takes on a deeper color with an orange copper hue and starts to show scents of caramel, butterscotch, and honeyed tropical fruits. With more time, the wine develops chocolate tones are as well.
Chateau d’Yquem is concentrated, rich, and deep, but even with all that sweetness going on, there is a spine of racy, acidity that keeps the wine fresh and lively. The textures are pure silk and velvet. Yes, other sweet white Bordeaux wines can deliver similar characteristics to varying degrees when young, but when most other wines have dropped their fruit, Chateau d’Yquem continues to age and evolve.
It is not uncommon for the best vintages of Chateau d’Yquem to deliver intense pleasure at 100 years of age if they were well stored.
vn
93
The 2018 Château d’Yquem “unfolded under tropical conditions” according to the château’s technical sheet, temperatures 2.7°C above average and this influences the style of the latest release. Noble rot spread after rainfall between 5 and 13 October, the picking commencing on 17 October with the heart of the harvest picked between 22 and 27 October. In total there was 17 days of picking. The final wine is a blend of 85% Sémillon and 15% Sauvignon Blanc, 13.50% alcohol (stated on the label) with 145g/L residual sugar and a pH of 3.95. Lucid straw in colour, it is paler than recent vintages. The bouquet requires coaxing, certainly less intense than with pretty scents of dried honey, saffron and orange pith, a discrete Germanic tinge just off stage. The palate is understated on the entry. -Neal Martin
js
97
An extremely polished and refined d’Yquem with lightly cooked peaches and mangos and an overlay of vanilla and cream with some lemon meringue. Orange peel, too. What is striking is the texture, which is creamy and so fine. The tannins give the wine energy and beauty. The finish is extremely long and impressive. So clean and refined. Not heavy at all, but vivid and clean as crystal. Goes on for minutes. Elegance with stature is a good description. Drinkable now, but better in 2023 and onwards. - James Suckling
wa
98
Il d'Yquem 2018 è tutto cordiale al lime, olio di pompelmo e scorza di mandarino per cominciare. Con un po' di persuasione, i fuochi d'artificio iniziano davvero, rilasciando un'intera gamma di caprifoglio, zenzero candito, ananas essiccato, pastiglie al limone, polvere di gesso e profumi di spruzzi di mare, seguiti da un sottofondo saporito di mandorle tritate, pimento e pane da forno. Il palato è un esercizio di raffinatezza ed equilibrio, caratterizzato dalla consistenza più meravigliosamente cremosa e dalla freschezza brillante e frizzante, che incornicia tutti gli strati densamente carichi di frutti tropicali e agrumi, finendo con un potente BANG di profondo profumo floreale e speziato. È meravigliosamente dolce, sì, ma questo - paradossalmente per un "vino dolce" - è quasi fuori luogo. - Lisa Perrotti Brown
ws
96
A beauty from start to finish, with fresh, racy notes of honeysuckle, quinine and mirabelle plum leading off, followed by richer quince, creamed pear and white nectarine flavors. Everything melds through the finish, picking up macadamia nut and brioche accents to complete the seduction. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Best from 2025 through 2045. 4,166 cases made. — JM