Château d'Yquem

Often described as the greatest sweet wine in the world Château d’Yquem has a reputation that has followed it from the middle ages to today. Back then, d’Yquem was owned by the King of England and has since had an interesting history, including being used as a military hospital in both World Wars. In 1996 d’Yquem was bought by LVMH (Moët-Hennessy-Louis Vuitton) from Alexandre de Lur Saluces after centuries of family ownership.

Château d’Yquem has 113 hectares of vines planted with 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc situated at the highest point in Sauternes which has a unique microclimate. This is hugely important as it allows for winds from the east to move through the vineyard which is crucial to remove unwanted moisture during the growing season as the noble rot sets in. Only fully botrytized fruit is picked by 150 very highly skilled vineyard workers and yields are so low that each vine only produces one glass of wine.

In the 1855 classification of Bordeaux, Château d’Yquem was lauded not only to be the greatest wine of Sauternes, but of the entire Bordeaux region with its golden wines declared almost immortal.

“I do not call Yquem a wine because there are an infinite number of “wines” as such, but Yquem is unique. I prefer the word nectar – the drink of the gods – and if I found one that was more noble, I would be less ashamed of our restrictive vocabulary so poorly suited to superlatives.” Frederic Dard

Château d’Yquem was also one of the first major estates to fight fraud by introducing a watermark on their label.