For a lot of wine people, even professionals, Château d’Yquem Sauternes is a bit of an abstraction. We all know it to be one of the world’s fine-wine benchmarks, and a lucky few of us have been treated to a few ounces from a well-aged bottle here and there, but it feels sometimes like this is a wine that essentially disappears into collector (and high-end restaurant) cellars upon release, never to be seen again.
I’ve wanted to offer Château d’Yquem for a while now, because it’s an experience our subscribers should have. But it comes with a few caveats: First, this 2004, now with a decade-plus of bottle age, is as “young” as I’d want to drink d’Yquem: thanks to its ample residual sugar, this monumental wine will continue to age beautifully for many decades to come, becoming more exotic, nutty and nectar-like as it does. Second, if you’re conditioned to think of d’Yquem as solely a “dessert” wine, you need to change that thinking.
Sauternes, of course, is the premier sweet wine appellation in Bordeaux, and d’Yquem is the widely acknowledged top dog in Sauternes, with just over 100 hectares of vineyards situated at the highest point in the appellation. This elevation, which is only about 100 meters at its highest point, is nevertheless significant in terms of air circulation: Paramount in the production of Sauternes wines is the development of botrytis cinerea, the beneficial fungus that ‘infects’ the late-harvested grapes and causes the grapes to wither, concentrating their sugars. This requires moist—but not wet—conditions, which the above-mentioned airflow helps to regulate.
The soils in d’Yquem’s vineyards are a mix of clay, sand, and gravel over limestone bedrock, and the grape mix is 80% Sémillon—a textured, waxy white even in dry versions—and 20% Sauvignon Blanc. The grapes are left to hang on the vine late into the fall, in anticipation of the development of botrytis, and the harvest is carried out in multiple tries, or passes, in search of the ideal grape specimens. This is truly the ultimate in “hand-harvesting,” and after these withered grapes have been harvested and gently pressed, the ultra-sweet juice is fermented in 100% new French oak barriques (it is also aged in 100% new French oak for at least 3 years before bottling). Given the high sugar concentration in this juice, you’d expect the finished wine to have a higher alcohol content than its 14% a.b.v.—fermentations are halted (traditionally by chilling down the fermenting must, rendering the yeasts inactive) deliberately, in order to achieve a balance of sweetness, acidity, and alcohol. This is not a “fortified” sweet wine, like Port, in which brandy is added to arrest the fermentation and bring the a.b.v. up to about 17%; Sauternes is merely a late-harvest wine with an exceptionally high concentration of residual sugar.
And it’s this residual sugar, of course, that acts as a preservative and lends d’Yquem—and Sauternes in general—its incredible longevity. The real magic of Sauternes, and the measure of its best wines, is how the sweetness and acidity balance one another. The greatest examples of Sauternes, like this wine, never veer into “cloying” territory—they always follow their unctuousness on the mid-palate with a cleansing blast of acidity. It’s a pretty amazing wine experience, in part because of its seeming impossibility.
There aren’t enough descriptors to do justice to a glass of d’Yquem with some age on it: the color is a deep orange- and amber-tinted gold, the texture glycerine-rich, and the acidity surprisingly refreshing. The nose and palate are a full-on riot of intermingling sensations: ripe yellow peach, dried apricot, blood orange marmalade, wildflower honey, brioche, saffron, vanilla, and so much more leap from the glass and fill the immediate area. This 2004 is a fresher vintage for d’Yquem, so it’s still got lots of life left, but you could also drink this wine now without being overwhelmed by richness/sweetness. If you do decide to crack this bottle soon, decant it at least an hour before serving in Bordeaux stems—and do not save it for dessert! Get this wine next to something savory early in a multi-course meal; in eras past, this wine was much more likely to be an aperitif than a dessert wine, and it’s amazing how decadent a companion it is to rich, savory preparations like seared foie gras. The combination of richness and sweetness would make it a perfect foil to something like a Chinese crispy pork belly (see recipe)—you need not be afraid of spiciness, as this wine will wrap it in a luscious bear hug. You deserve a little decadence in your life!
