2001 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes Blend

Sauternes Blend - 6L
This product is
out of stock
Most orders placed M-F by 3pm (PT) ship same day.
Orders placed on a weekend or holiday will ship the next business day.
Shipping Info

Free storage available
Wine Storage

REVIEWS

JS 100 JD 100 JL 100 WA 100 TWI 100 VN 100 WS 100 JR 98 DC 97 NM 97
JS 100

jamessuckling.com, January 2023

This has taken on a golden amber color, with fantastic intensity and complexity of aromas. Mushroom, candle wax, white truffle, chamomile, honey, vanilla bean, marmalade, smoke, toast, apricot and pineapple. Powerful...
JD 100

jebdunnuck.com, February 2023

A brilliant sweet wine that tops out on my scale, the 2001 Château D'Yquem is now fully mature yet still vibrant and pure, with an incredible nose of honeyed marmalade, caramelized tropical fruits, rising bread, marzipan...
JL 100

TheWineCellarInsider.com, February 2019

Not even close to mature, but who cares? This is so good. Unctuous, fresh, concentrated, sweet and complex, the endless layers of ripe, very ripe, and overripe apricots, pineapples, and assorted tropical fruits all...
WA 100

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, August 2019

I have had the very good fortune to taste the 2001 d'Yquem perhaps a dozen times since its release and have never been less than absolutely floored by its combination of poise, purity, precision and layer upon intricate...
TWI 100

The Wine Independent, September 2023

The 2001 Yquem has a pale to medium gold color. The nose is a little closed to begin, slowly emerging with a complex array of notes of mango preserves, baked peaches, saffron, salted almonds, and candied ginger, followed...
VN 100

Vinous, September 2021

Just weeks after tasting the 2001 Château d’Yquem at the estate, another bottle was served at a lunch in London and it was perfection. The aromatics are practically identical and likewise the palate, but this bottle...
WS 100

Wine Spectator, November 2005

The greatest young Yquem I have ever tasted from bottle. Yellow with a golden hue and an almost green tint. Intense aromas of botrytis spices and blanched almonds follow through to honey maple syrup dried apricot and...
JR 98

Jancis Robinson's Purple Pages, November 2013

Magnum. A marvellous wine with a fabulous future but already redolent of crème brulée and marzipan. Great intensity, balance and lift. Fresh, medium sweetness (which looks an awfully prosaic description of this miracle of...
DC 97

Decanter, January 2021

Saffron yellow with hints of gold, this is still fresh and young, hovering somewhere over your palate, silky and satiny in texture. This is still extremely young, almost fatty in its fruit texture, and having recently...
NM 97

Neal Martin's Wine Journal, May 2011

97+ Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index’s 10-Year On horizontal. The nose is very tight at first with scents of dried honey, yellow flowers and melted butter with fine definition: very complex and cerebral. The palate is...

WINE DETAILS

Color & Type Dessert
Varietal Sauternes Blend
Country France
Region Bordeaux
Sub-region Sauternes
Vintage 2001
Size 6L

Sauternes is the best and most sought-after region for dessert wine in Bordeaux, perhaps in all of France. Chateau d’Yquem is the most celebrated of all Sauternes producers.

The history of d’Yquem can be traced back to 1593, when local nobleman Jacques Sauvage became the feudal overseer of the property. The area was already home to late-harvest wines even then, and the Sauvage family moved things forward, creating “modern” vineyards—and the famous chateau—on the unique hill that contributes to d’Yquem’s outstanding quality. In 1711, the Sauvage family became full owners of the property and managed to retain it through the French Revolution.

The quality and reputation of Chateau d’Yquem wine improved as the vineyard was methodically expanded and enhanced. By the late 18th century, it was celebrated internationally and counted Thomas Jefferson among its staunch supporters. But the house continued to innovate and better its practices. The constructed a large, purpose-built cellar for maturation and aging in 1826 and, not long after, began harvesting in multiple passes to optimize fruit quality. This work was rewarded when Chateau d’Yquem was designated the only 1er Cru Superieur dessert wine in the famous 1855 classification of Bordeaux wines.

Chateau d’Yquem holds just under 300 acres of vineyard land on gravelly, well-drained soil, but only uses about 250 to make wine in any given year. The remainder is due to a program of continual replanting which ensures that producing vines are always in their prime. And the vineyard is planted only to Semillion (75%) and Sauvignon Blanc (25%), eschewing Muscadelle which is commonly used in the area but makes less distinguished wine.

Within an hour of harvest, the grapes of Chateau d’Yquem are in the winery and being pressed. Unlike most white wines, quality actually improves with multiple pressings as that extracts more sugar and flavor intensity. Chateau d’Yquem three or four times, with the initial effort yielding about 75% of the total volume.

Chateau d’Yquem does all its fermentation in new French oak barrels. This is unsual for Sauternes, but results in the most flavorful and pristine wine. Although there is variation from one vintage to the next, the typical Chateau d’Yquem wine finishes fermentation at 13.5% alcohol with 150 grams/liter of sugar.

All the barrels age for six to eight months after fermentation. At that point, under-performing barrels are set aside. The remaining barrels go to the aging cellar for 20 months, where they are topped up twice weekly to maintain freshness. For pure flavors and clarity, the wines are also racked 15 times and then fined before the final, blind tasting which determines the blend that will go into bottle.

Although not always very outgoing when young, Chateau d’Yquem is marked by fruit (apricot, mandarin, and occasionally tropical fruit) and oak (vanilla and toasty aromas). Older vintages, on the other hand, have an extraordinarily complex fragrance as soon as the bottle is opened, with hints of dried fruit (dried apricot, prune, stewed fruit, and marmalade), spice (cinnamon, saffron, and liquorice), and even flowers (lime blossom, etc.). The first impression of Chateau d'Yquem on the palate is always very silky, and often sumptuous. It then fills out, "coating the palate". This fine wine has a strong, but never overbearing character, with great elegance and poise. It always maintains a balance between sugar and acidity (sweetness and freshness). A touch of bitterness can also contribute to the overall harmony.