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.

The 2023 Château d’Yquem is a Sauternes Premier Cru Supérieur that has drawn an unusually consistent run of top-tier reviews, including multiple 100-point scores. It is a 70% Sémillon and 30% Sauvignon Blanc blend, harvested from September 14 to October 11, and bottled at 14% alcohol with about 153–154 g/L residual sugar and a pH of 3.85. Jane Anson notes that “the botrytis came early and quickly in 2023,” setting up a wine that she calls “exceptional,” and she awards it 100 points.

Aromatically, reviewers converge on citrus confit, tropical fruit, saffron, honeyed tones, and spice. James Suckling (100 points) highlights “intense orange peel, honey, butterscotch, saffron, smoke and peat,” adding that it is “full-bodied but weightless and silky.” Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (100 points) emphasizes purity and scale, describing a “complex, vibrant and remarkably pure bouquet of pineapple, guava, mango, confit citrus, beeswax and spices,” and calls it “among the finest wines bottled here under Lorenzo Pasquini’s direction.” The Wine Advocate also underscores its stature analytically: with 153 g/L residual sugar, it sits “among the 10 most concentrated vintages in the château’s history.”

On the palate, the theme is density met by freshness. Jeff Leve (99 points) calls it “rich, intense, opulent…yet all of that is balanced by its explosive, racy acidity,” and says the finish “build[es], intensif[ies], and expand[s].” Vinous critic Neal Martin (99 points) finds “exquisite balance and poise,” noting it is “less exuberant…than the 2022,” but “sublime,” with a defining “umami sensation.”

Overall, 2023 reads as a high-concentration Yquem shaped by control and lift—an excellent, cellar-worthy release that is already hard to ignore in youth.