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Chateau d'Yquem is a Premier Cru Superieur wine from the Sauternes, Gironde region in the southern part of the Bordeaux vineyards known as Graves. In the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, Chteau d'Yquem was the only Sauternes given this rating, indicating its perceived superiority and higher prices over all other wines of its type.
Chateau Yquem's success stems largely from the site's susceptibility to attack by "noble rot" (a particular kind of infestation by Botrytis cinerea). Wines from Chteau d'Yquem are characterised by their complexity, concentration and sweetness, which is balanced by relatively high acidity. With proper care, a bottle will keep for a century or more and the fruity overtones will gradually fade and integrate with more complex secondary and tertiary flavours.
The vineyard comprises 126 hectares (310 acres) in the Sauternes appellation, though only 100 hectares (250 acres) are in production at any time. Each year, vines from two to three hectares are grubbed up and left fallow for a year. Since grapes from newly planted vines are not worthy of the chateau name for five to seven years, about 20 hectares are held in reserve each year.
The vines consist of 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon blanc, though the latter's vigour implies the proportions are more nearly equal in the final wine. Harvesting is carefully timed, and on average six tries through the vineyard are undertaken each year to ensure that only the botrytized grapes are selected. The yield averages nine hectolitres per hectare (2.5 acres), compared to the usual twelve to twenty hectolitres per hectare in Sauternes. The grapes are pressed three times and transferred to oak barrels for maturation over a period of about three years.
On average, 65,000 bottles are produced each year. In a poor vintage, the entire crop is deemed unworthy of bearing the Chateau's name and sold anonymously; this happened nine times in the 20th century: 1910, 1915, 1930, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1972, 1974, and 1992 and in the 21st century one time: 2012.
Great vintages 1904, 1921, 1937, 1947, 1959, 1967, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1990
Since 1959 (though not every year), Chteau d'Yquem has also produced a dry white wine called Ygrec, made from an equal blend of Semillon and Sauvignon blanc.
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