| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Sauternes and Barsac |
| Colour | Sweet White |
| Type | Still |
Following a very long harvest stretching nearly two months, the 2015 Château d'Yquem came in at 13.9% alcohol and 144 grams per liter of residual sugar, sporting a pH of 3.65 and six grams per liter of tartaric acid. None of these numbers, however, even remotely begin to tell you how profound this wine is. The nose opens with electric notes of ripe pineapples, green mango, orange blossoms and lemon tart with hints of fungi, lime zest, crushed rocks and jasmine. The freshness on the palate is just astonishing, permeating and lifting layer upon layer of tropical fruits and earthy notions, all encased in a sumptuous texture and culminating in a very, very long, mineral-tinged finish. Truly, this is a legendary vintage for d'Yquem. I've been conservative with my drinking window here, and I would not be at all surprised if our descendants are drinking this vintage well into the next century. Drink 2025 - 2065.
A blend of 75% Sémillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc with 144 grams of residual sugar, the 2015 d'Yquem offers up a multifaceted, entrancing bouquet with aromas of jasmine, lime leaves, grilled bread, saffron, ripe orchard fruits, lemon oil and spices. Crystalline and pure, it’s full-bodied, seamless and layered, with excellent concentration on the mid-palate (thanks to clay soils), concluding with an energetic yet saline finish brought by calcareous soils. This is an opulent but charming vintage for Château d'Yquem, and it could reach the optimum score with a minimum of 20 years of aging. Harvest began on September 3rd and finished on October 21st.
This is an incredible young Yquem that is so vinous like a great vintage of Montrachet but then on the palate it turns to Yquem with spice, dried fruit and mushroom as well as sweet fruit. Last for minutes. Acidity is all there giving it a dynamic vibrance that jolts your senses. Special wine. It has a little more than than 140 grams of residual sugar, less than the legendary of 2001. But is very close in greatness. Let’s wait and see
Mid gold. Very direct and glossy. Edge of veg and toast. Real tension! Tense pear juice with lots of grip and attack. Lots of acidity as well as all that sugar. Really energetic. Long. Amazing persistence. So neat. Real attack. Massive apparent acidity. 13.9%
Drink 2027-2055
The greatest sweet wine of Bordeaux and without doubt one of the world's most famous wines. There is no denying outstanding quality is consistently maintained here but pricing in some recent vintages has been too high. Not normally sold during the en primeur campaign, we expect this to be released in September 2017. This could well rival the famous 2001 and 2009 vintages produced here. The harvest last 9 weeks! What a great nose! Honey, peaches, cream and vanilla. This is both intense and layered. The palate is initially silky sweet and smooth with acacia honey, pineapple, and apricot, but as you move through to the mid palate the acidity seemlessly lifts the profile to peach blossom and sweet vanilla pod. This is rich, creamy and viscous, but it is the refreshing, precise and pure acidity that makes the wine. So much finesse and focus. The finish is minutes long with marmalade, pineapple and higher toned honey blossom. A true delight.
Voluptuous, rich the nose has ripe fruit depth yet fragrance. The palate is sumptuous the candied peel, the orange marmalade underpinned by apricot and peach. The mid power is tempered by tangerine freshness and although rich and sweet at the back the finish is fine long and elegant. 2025-2040.
The vintage at Yquem was the earliest since 1893, starting on the 3rd of September and
continuing for another seven weeks. The result is one of the best ever wines from the château,
combining exotic flavours of pineapple, tangerine and mango underpinned by a core of
acidity and scented vanilla oak. Every bit as good as 2001, 2009 and 2014. Drink: 2020-36
The nose is thrillingly piercing with intense citrus notes and a volume of scent which is arresting. There is power here
and fascinating tension between the richness of sugar and powerful acidity - thanks to the cool temperatures in August
and September. One of the hallmarks of Yquem’s potential is the control and lack of unnecessary exuberance in its youth.
This is buttoned up and fastened down and the power, while yearning to be released, will not emerge for a long time to
come. This is a seriously good Yquem.
The 2015 Yquem has always been a vintage that I have approached with caution. It was a very early harvest that began on 3 September and finished on 21 October after temperatures fell during the picking. As usual, I have reservations about the nose that, for me, lacks the cohesion and complexity of the 2014. Acacia honey, white flowers and quince, just a hint of toffee apple, beautiful but not quite as compelling as the previous vintage. The palate is well balanced, viscous and is bestowed impressive weight. It does not quite have the tension and nerve of 2014, but has wonderful purity. Superb, though not hors-classe. Tasted at the château. 2021-2045
The 2015 d'Yquem feels a little disjointed on the nose at first, but it coalesces nicely to reveal smoke, dried honey, saffron and orange rind aromas. The palate is well balanced with a viscous opening, the acidity nicely judged with lime, orange rind and quince toward the finish that shuts down quickly. Some readers may be surprised by my score, but Yquem often closes down and consequently suffers in blind tastings like this. It will surely come back but it will need cellaring to show its rip-roaring best. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. 2030 - 2075
The 2015 Château d'Yquem was scintillating when I tasted it at the property during en primeur last year. A blend of 75% Sémillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc, it delivers 144 grams per liter of residual sugar. Now that the wine is in bottle, that original “show-stopping” bouquet has become more refined. In fact, you could almost describe it as laid back or genteel until it begins to magically unfold and deliver seductive scents of lemon curd, orange pith, freshly opened tins of apricot and wild honey. You would call the aromatics more “pretty” than “powerful,” but of course, it is beautifully defined. The palate is very well balanced with that electric line of acidity intact. It is a little spicier than I recall, with a fresh viscous finish. There is a persistent aftertaste whereby the mouth tingles some 60 seconds after the wine has departed. Maybe I was being optimistic when I suggested that it might rank alongside the regal 2001 and 2009. The 2015 Yquem does not belong in that hallowed company. But it is a prince to that king and that queen. Drink 2023-2070.
The 2015 Château d'Yquem is a blend of 75% Semillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc that was picked on the gravelly soils as early as 3 and 4 September until 21 October, four tries through the vineyard. It delivers 144 grams per liter of residual sugar, with six-grams of tartaric acid, a pH 3.65 and 13.9% alcohol. It has a show-stopping bouquet that is beautifully defined and very complex and exuberant, infused with greater mineralité than recent vintages - intense but not as flamboyant as say the 2009 Yquem at this stage. The palate boasts absolutely stunning balance. This is a Yquem without a hair out of place: fantastically pure, botrytised fruit caressing the mouth. That is as per normal. What distinguishes this Yquem is the sense of electricity that is imbued by that razor-sharp acidity. There is just unbelievably tension here and to be frank, there is little point in me continuing to write this note, because it is simply an astonishing Yquem that will rank alongside the 2001 and 2009.
