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Chateau d'Yquem, 2003 Sweet Wine

Sauternes 1er Cru Classe
Sweet White Wine

Bottle size: 75cl

ABV: 13%

Price:

$375.86 USD

Out of stock

Description

An outstanding 2003 vintage sweet white wine from Chateau d'Yquem. Chateau d'Yquem reported 2003 as the hottest year since 1896, the previous hottest being the 1976 which provided a superb wine with excellent botrytis which is now showing at its best. Chateau d'Yquem conclude their report: "This unusual vintage will no doubt remain a benchmark for many years to come. An extraordinary summer, "total" botrytis, and the sacrifice of part of the estate made it possible to harvest grapes with optimum fruit and and concentration thanks to unusually clean botrtization."

Chateau d`Yquem is often described as the greatest sweet wine in the world. After centuries of family ownership, Yquem was finally sold in acrimonious circumstances to Louis Vuitton-Moët-Hennessy in 1999. However, its former owner and director Alexandre de Lur-Saluce remains in charge. Yquem is located on the highest hill in Sauternes and enjoys the best growing conditions in the whole appellation. The 110-hectare vineyard is planted with 80% Sémillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc. Only fully botrytized fruit is picked by the 150 highly skilled pickers and yields are so low that each vine produces only one glass of wine. Yquem is fermented in oak barrels (100% new) and is left in barriques to mature for up to 36 months. Intensely opulent when young, Yquem develops an extraordinary complexity and exotic richness when fully mature, with the best vintages lasting for over 50 years.

Condition

Excellent

Reviews

***96/100 Points - Lisa Perrotti-Brown for the Wine Advocate, Tasted in 2019.
Medium lemon-gold coloured, the 2003 d'Yquem seems to be emerging from a slumber, awakening with gloriously expressive notes of ginger ale, pineapple upside-down cake, toasted hazelnuts, star anise, cinnamon stick and preserved mandarin peel plus hints of lemon butter, crushed rocks, musk perfume and chalk dust. Full-bodied, super concentrated and decadently unctuous, the palate exudes waves of preserved tropical fruits and citrus sparks charged with energetic freshness, finishing epically long and wonderfully spicy. Alcohol is 13.5% this year, while the residual sugar comes in at a whopping 147 grams per liter, nicely balanced by a total acidity of 4.2 grams per liter H2SO4.

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