Wine Review: 2013 Chateau d'Yquem - Sauternes (~$330/bottle)

I can't afford this wine. However I was at a tasting tonight and snagged a little pour. If you've ever been curious what a $300+ bottle of wine tastes like, this is the post for you.

A brief primer on wine from Sauternes

Sauternes is a region in Bordeaux famous for it's sweet white wines, made from a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes. Due to the humidity of the area, the grapes become infected with botrytis cinerea, a fungus known as "noble rot." This fungus perforates the skins of the grapes and causes them to shrivel and concentrate, which leads to a wine high in sugar but also high in acidity. Botrytis also darkens the color of the wine and adds a host of unique flavors like wax, saffron, ginger, and honey.

Tasting Note

Luminescent gold color. Holy sh** this smells good. Compared to the other Sauternes' at the tasting, the aroma explodes out of the glass with clear and complex flavors of genmaicha (toasted rice and green tea), seaweed - Nori, raw almonds and marzipan, saffron, honey, wax, perfumed orange peel, peach cream, mango sorbet. Wow.
In the mouth, it's sweet even for a Sauternes, with finish that goes on for minutes and strong bright acidity. On the finish there's a crazy shifting landscape of candied orange, toasted rice, saffron, guava, and peach. Stunning.

You can dissect this and it rewards scrutiny with more and more complexity. Or you can just sip it and the world becomes sunnier and brighter. Even though this is a large tasting and spitting is de rigeur, it's really, really hard to spit this out.

Technical Note (explanation of the note above)

Gold color—botrytis has the laccase enzyme, which speeds up the deepening of color that happens with age/oxidation.

Botrytis aromas—toasted rice, saffron, ginger, honey, and wax are all flavors from botrytis.

Sauvignon Blanc—I'm not 100% sure of this, but Sauvignon Blanc is known to have a green, grassy note (from compounds called pyrazines) and I think the green tea and seaweed flavors are related to this. The guava, peach, and mango notes are also likely from Sauvignon Blanc.

Semillon— This isn't a very distinctive grape, but it tends to integrate well with oak, leading to the creamy flavors (peach cream, almonds, marzipan) and also contributes some honey.

oak aging—d'Yquem ages for around 30 months in new French oak, which imparts vanilla and spice aromas and a certain palate sweetness.

perfume—this is actually due to ethyl acetate, which smells a bit like nail polish remover, and is a result of harvesting and vinifying already-shriveled grapes. In large quantities, ethyl acetate is a flaw. But in a controlled amount it can feel like a whiff of floral perfume.

Why people pay for this wine

Not everyone likes sweet wines. For those who do, Chateau d'Yquem is perhaps the most famous sweet wine in the world - lauded by historical luminaries like Thomas Jefferson, and more recently referenced by Matt Damon's character in Ocean's Thirteen.

Aside from its reputation, the wine does consistently deliver intensity, complexity, balance, and deliciousness that's a hair above its peers. If you haven't tasted much Sauternes, d'Yquem might just taste like a good sweet wine. However if you're an aficionado of Sauternes, then this difference will be clear and undeniable.

I could even make the argument that d'Yquem is a bargain. Given that the best Pinot Noir in the world (DRC) sells for upwards of $10,000 a bottle, a mere $330 seems a small price to pay for the best sweet wine in the world!

Thanks for reading!

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