Chateau d'Yquem 2018 1.5L Magnum

Château d’Yquem is an extraordinary place, at the very heart of Sauternes, with a hundred hectares of vineyards are planted on a mosaic of different soils. Through a sublimation process, the grapes reach a level a richness in taste and aromas that is simply unique in the world. Yquem preciously protects its selective harvesting secret, carried out by a team of devoted highly experienced local pickers, who have received their ancestral knowledge from the generations that came before them.

The robe presents a magnificent bright gold color, with pale reflections. The nose blends harmony and finesse, revealing notes of yellow fruits, white flowers, spices and fine paste. The mouth follows the same register of elegance, with a suave attack that gives way to delicious flavors of exotic fruits, quince and vanilla wood. Evolving with freshness and generosity, it is subtly sweet but without being exuberant, gracefully ending on a long and very complex finish.

 

98 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 d'Yquem is all lime cordial, grapefruit oil and mandarin peel to begin. With a little coaxing, the fireworks really begin, letting off a whole array of honeysuckle, candied ginger, dried pineapple, lemon pastilles, chalk dust and sea spray scents, followed by a savoury undercurrent of shaved almonds, allspice and baking bread. The palate is an exercise in polish and poise, featuring the most gorgeously creamy texture and bright, sparkling freshness, framing all the densely laden tropical and citrus fruit layers, finishing with a powerful bang of profound floral and spice perfume. It is wonderfully sweet, yes, but that paradoxically for a "sweet wine" is almost beside the point.