1959 | Château d’Yquem

Detailed Description

Deep, full-bodied, long and very, very refined, with a rock solid core, impeccable balance, laser-like focus and simply stunning acidity.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 1959 Yquem is a great vintage and the wine is at its absolute zenith at the present time and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The utterly profound bouquet soars from the glass in a blaze of oranges, white cherries, honeyed nuts, crème brulée, new leather, great minerality, barley sugar and gentle topnotes of candied orange peel. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, long and very, very refined, with a rock solid core, impeccable balance, laser-like focus and simply stunning acidity for a nearly fifty year-old wine that keeps this glorious titan light on its feet and endless. A brilliant vintage of Yquem.

• Vinous: The 1959 Yquem came directly from the property and is the best bottle I had up to that point. Apricot, marmalade and quince adorn the beautifully defined nose that is almost Barsac-like in quality. The palate is built around intense marmalade-tinged honeyed fruit and a razor-sharp acidity that effortlessly slices through it. This is imbued with wonderful tension – gorgeous crème brûlée, marmalade and quince towards the pixelated finish.

Producer Information

Château d’Yquem is a property in the Sauternes district of Bordeaux, making what is arguably the world’s most famous dessert wine. It was the only Sauternes château rated as Premier Cru Supérieur in the official Classification of 1855, and is priced accordingly. The Yquem estate, owned by the King of England in the Middle Ages, has produced late-harvest wine since at least the late 1500s. The 103 hectare (254 acre) vineyard is situated on the highest hill in Sauternes. The soils here are perfect for the production of sweet wine – a warm, dry topsoil of pebbles and course gravel lies over a clay subsoil that retains generous water reserves, aiding with the development of noble rot, and there are around 60 miles (100km) of drains to prevent waterlogging. At any one time around 12ha (30 acres) of vineyard are either fallow or have young vines not suitable for production.