2001, 1988, 1975 - or the beauty of ageing

Wine glasses. Chateau d'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux. 2001, 1988, 1975. Bordeaux, France

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Château d'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.

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Chateau Yquem is in the appellation of Sauternes in Bordeaux. It produces luscious sweet white wine from grapes that have been affected by noble rot, the famed botrytis cinerea, which affects the grapes in the vineyard.

Chateau d'Yquem is the grandest, most famous, biggest and - most expensive of the Sauternes wines. It is the only chateau to have be designated as Premier Cru Supérieur in the more than 150 year old 1855 classification. It was for a long time the property of the Lur Saluces family, and was managed by Comte Alexandre de Lur Saluces. In the late 90s, due to disagreements in the family, it was sold to the luxury goods group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) headed by the French tycoon Bernard Arnault. The vineyards extend over 113 hectares and are planted with 80% sémillon and 20% sauvignon blanc grape varieties. The vines are trained in a trellising system called gobelet pallisé, which is unusual, except here in Sauternes.

The chateau is an impressive medieval fortress commanding spectacular views over the surrounding landscape. The winery has been much renovated, a new barrel cellar has been constructed (the wines are aged for an extended period of time in new oak barriques), and everything now exudes the same richness as the wines themselves. The winemaking is under the responsibility of the exceedingly 'sympathique' Sandrine Garbay while Pierre Lurton, the director of the chateau leads the business. They also make a non-sweet (dry is not the right word) called "Y" (i-greque), which started the trend of not-so-sweet wines with single letter names (R de Rieussec, G de Giraud...).

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.


Bordeaux Sauternes Chateau Yquem stock photo samples - Images by Per Karlsson

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