細節
Château d'Yquem
Here we are down in my favourite corner of Bordeaux. Sauternes has become the love of my wine life. It is a region of die-hard perfectionists battling against all the odds that the weather and the markets can hurl at them and yet never surrendering. They are by necessity wonderfully humble people and it's a pleasure to have got to know them all so well. It all started in the second year of my négociant company, 1983. I had got lucky for the first year because of the red '82s, on which I had bet the farm and more - and it had paid off. The '83 reds were welcomed with less applause and I was looking for something else. Nathie Johnston tipped me off that the '83 Sauternes were excellent so I went down there and never looked back. Sauternes hasn't been a core market since la Belle Epoque. Opening a fine bottle of sweet wine today is not as automatic as opening a dry wine. But if we don't do it from time to time, to accompany any food imaginable by the way, we are missing out on one of the greatest pleasures in wine drinking.
Now to Yquem, originating from local nobility when Jacques Sauvage was granted feudal tenure in 1593 – and the origins of the château going back even further – and to this day widely accepted, inside and outside Sauternes, as the most noble Sauternes of all. It is unique firstly by its terroir : 150 parcels of vineyard, planted on a rich variety of soils providing all possible options for selection at harvest time and covering a vast buttress of land overlooking the whole region that benefits from greater air circulation when the drying easterly breezes of October are so necessary to concentrate the botrytis, the harvest being carried out, of course, grape by grape as each attains perfect noble rot.
Since 1996 for half and 2004 for the other half, it is now owned by Bernard Arnault of LVMH so all the wines offerred today come from the Lur Saluces period. At this point it is important to say that he has been very careful to maintain Lur Saluces's traditions – and the key staff – , with only minor tweaks that probably would have happened anyway : reducing the wine's time in barrel from an average of 36 to 30 months, developing the dry wine « Y » into a fresher more Sauvignon style and, as from 2003, offerring the Yquem en primeur.
Therefore I don't find any stylistic difference between the wines of the two periods.
The '82, although dwarfed by the '83, was considered for its first few years to be superior to that greater vintage,just like at Suduiraut. Now it shows a perfect balance of finesse, sweetness and acidity but has clearly evolved into interesting saffron notes as it glides into full maturity.
The '85 was made from a desperately dry year which did not prevent a small amount of noble rot developing for a first pick in the third week of September but which arrested any further development until the end of October and well into November. Most estates didn't wait but Yquem could and did, resulting in what they call a very small « miracle vintage » of very high quality, already right in its drinking window.
The '86 was totally the opposite : good dampness in September sparked off early and rapid botrytisation, resulting in a softer style of wine that has allowed the secondary aromas (dried apricots and almonds) to blossom.
The '88 was a long-winded harvest, picked over 6 passes, due to the dry conditions. The English have always preferred this, the first of the « great trio » of vintages, because of its superlative bright finesse.
The '90, the last of the trio, was picked in exactly the reverse conditions ; as in 2003, a few days of light rain occasioned a very rapid onrush of perfect botrytis that had to be picked hurriedly before it got over-concentrated (Lur Saluces was always looking for balance rather than « elixir »).The wine's power and finesse are magnificently enrobed in a rich kind of fatness.
The legendary quality of the '01 just proves his point : a wine of extreme finesse and balance, above all through vibrant acidity from the cool summer nights and perfect and from rapid botrytisation.
Château d'Yquem 1982
Sauternes, 1er grand cru classé
In original wooden case
12 bottles per lot
Here we are down in my favourite corner of Bordeaux. Sauternes has become the love of my wine life. It is a region of die-hard perfectionists battling against all the odds that the weather and the markets can hurl at them and yet never surrendering. They are by necessity wonderfully humble people and it's a pleasure to have got to know them all so well. It all started in the second year of my négociant company, 1983. I had got lucky for the first year because of the red '82s, on which I had bet the farm and more - and it had paid off. The '83 reds were welcomed with less applause and I was looking for something else. Nathie Johnston tipped me off that the '83 Sauternes were excellent so I went down there and never looked back. Sauternes hasn't been a core market since la Belle Epoque. Opening a fine bottle of sweet wine today is not as automatic as opening a dry wine. But if we don't do it from time to time, to accompany any food imaginable by the way, we are missing out on one of the greatest pleasures in wine drinking.
Now to Yquem, originating from local nobility when Jacques Sauvage was granted feudal tenure in 1593 – and the origins of the château going back even further – and to this day widely accepted, inside and outside Sauternes, as the most noble Sauternes of all. It is unique firstly by its terroir : 150 parcels of vineyard, planted on a rich variety of soils providing all possible options for selection at harvest time and covering a vast buttress of land overlooking the whole region that benefits from greater air circulation when the drying easterly breezes of October are so necessary to concentrate the botrytis, the harvest being carried out, of course, grape by grape as each attains perfect noble rot.
Since 1996 for half and 2004 for the other half, it is now owned by Bernard Arnault of LVMH so all the wines offerred today come from the Lur Saluces period. At this point it is important to say that he has been very careful to maintain Lur Saluces's traditions – and the key staff – , with only minor tweaks that probably would have happened anyway : reducing the wine's time in barrel from an average of 36 to 30 months, developing the dry wine « Y » into a fresher more Sauvignon style and, as from 2003, offerring the Yquem en primeur.
Therefore I don't find any stylistic difference between the wines of the two periods.
The '82, although dwarfed by the '83, was considered for its first few years to be superior to that greater vintage,just like at Suduiraut. Now it shows a perfect balance of finesse, sweetness and acidity but has clearly evolved into interesting saffron notes as it glides into full maturity.
The '85 was made from a desperately dry year which did not prevent a small amount of noble rot developing for a first pick in the third week of September but which arrested any further development until the end of October and well into November. Most estates didn't wait but Yquem could and did, resulting in what they call a very small « miracle vintage » of very high quality, already right in its drinking window.
The '86 was totally the opposite : good dampness in September sparked off early and rapid botrytisation, resulting in a softer style of wine that has allowed the secondary aromas (dried apricots and almonds) to blossom.
The '88 was a long-winded harvest, picked over 6 passes, due to the dry conditions. The English have always preferred this, the first of the « great trio » of vintages, because of its superlative bright finesse.
The '90, the last of the trio, was picked in exactly the reverse conditions ; as in 2003, a few days of light rain occasioned a very rapid onrush of perfect botrytis that had to be picked hurriedly before it got over-concentrated (Lur Saluces was always looking for balance rather than « elixir »).The wine's power and finesse are magnificently enrobed in a rich kind of fatness.
The legendary quality of the '01 just proves his point : a wine of extreme finesse and balance, above all through vibrant acidity from the cool summer nights and perfect and from rapid botrytisation.
Château d'Yquem 1982
Sauternes, 1er grand cru classé
In original wooden case
12 bottles per lot
注意事項
On lots marked with an + in the catalogue, VAT will be charged at 7.7% on both the premium as well as the hammer price.
榮譽呈獻
Edwin Vos