2009 Yquem (Sauternes)
- Producer:
- Chateau d`Yquem
- Origin:
-
Barsac & Sauternes,
Bordeaux,
FRANCE,
- Wine colour:
- white
- Wine style:
- sweet
- Dominant grape:
- Semillon
- Closure style:
- cork
- Classification:
- Superior first growths 1st 1er
- Maturity:
- young
Uncorked:
80Semillon, 20Sauvignon Blanc, 100% new oak
Picked on 19 days between 7/09 - 19/10
13.8ABV, 155g residual
Good grapes, fantastic noble rot
Summer v dry, vines stressed
Rain end of Sept led to botrytis
1 day then another where they picked the most Yquem in a day - previous record was 1893. Normally harvesting more spread out after a drought but for Sept rain. Temp dropped after first picking spree to preserve acidity but not enough for grey rot.
Not one of the greatest vintages. Picking in 2 goes doesn`t give the complexity of many lots. Yquem compare it to 90. (Comparison with 1893 is only the picking.) Though Pierre reckons it the greatest vintage ever! Sandrine thinks it`s closer to 07.
Very unctuous, intense peach/apricot, soft, fresh, butterscotch, restrained 94-96 points (AR 30/03/10)
Neal Martin:
The 2009 Yquem has an almost ethereal nose, beautifully defined with scents of honey, honeysuckle, pear, fresh apricot and a hint of quince. It blossoms in the glass, gaining intensity and expanding across the ether. The immediate impression is not of a powerful, rich, botrytis-laden Yquem, but one that has semblances with the 2007 in terms of poise and precision, the acidity defining the wine in its youth and around that, subtle notes of honey, fig, pear, apricot and just a hint of ginger adding vibrancy and edginess towards the pure and tensile finish. As expected, there is extraordinary persistency, lingering in the mouth long after the wine has disappeared, yet it will remain long in the memory. 96-98 points
Scores
96-98 points, Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, April 2010