So this weekend, I cracked open a bottle I was holding for our 30th anniversary, but decided to pop for the 29th. It was 375 ml. The foil was sticky and there was a sediment stain on the neck. A lovely nose of honey and pineapple. A vibrant and glowing gold in the glass, just beautiful!
Tasted with some fun cheeses and candied nuts. Tastes of roasted stone fruit, peaches and plums, concentrated, with a finish that ended dry. Viscous and long legs in the glass. Lovely.
However. I spent $300+ on this bottle and I don’t get it. What is so special? I love sweet wines and try them from all over and this supposed to be the king of the form. I usually spend $20-$30 on a 375 bottle of the sweet stuff. And while I can afford to splurge, I want to feel I got something special. This was good, but 10 times better? I don’t think it is even as good as a Bonny Doon Vinferno.
I had this reaction to French patisseries when I visited Paris in 2000. I had been looking forward to the great baked goods and found myself mildly disappointed. They were fine and beautiful, but I thought I can get this in San Francisco.
And while this doesn’t mean I won’t try another pricey bottle of something or other but I doubt if I will go this big again. And certainly not for Sauternes!
Not sure I would compare the Bonny Doon to D’Yquem, but putting different palates aside, I’d find a 750 ml of Climens 1988 for 2/5 to 1/3 what you paid for a 375 of Yquem and drink the bottle slowly over several days. It’s a magical wine. And I’d skip the food unless you provide a dead-on pairing, like Stilton. These wines are the dessert.
apart from the spelling
Sometimes the anticipation of a bottle can overshadow the actual drinking of it, I agree Yquem is meant to be the pinnacle of that wine style. And I understand that you spent considerably more than you normally would on a bottle of wine and thought it would offer more than you felt it did.
In the defense of the wine, based on your description and photos it appears that the bottle was not in pristine condition, “there are no great wines, only great bottles” (broadbent).
Believe me this happens to everyone, I have had way less than stellar bottles of DRC etc many many times, its part of our hobby.
The day you have a great bottle of Yquem will change your mind
In my experience, Yquem benefits substantially from long decants.
A note on this same wine from a few years ago:
Pale amber colour. High-toned on the nose, with a good hit of acetone. Aromas of orange peel and a light hint of brown spice and burnt sugar as well. The palate feels a little bit off-kilter, particularly because of some very prominent bitter notes. On the other hand, marmalade notes dominate the semi-sweet palate. Slightly hot, but a very, very long finish. Second day: my own damn fault for not reading my previous tasting note (especially since this is from a full bottle). This is much, much better on the second day, with a lot of the offensive high-toned notes dissipating away, leaving the classic marmalade core behind with a hint of sweet corn. The palate has also loosened up significantly, with the bitter notes fading into the background as well. Ticked the score up two notches.
Robert… My first question is, where are you buying your wine? $300 for a split is way out of line! I would not buy from them again!!!
More importantly, one should never expect to like every wine that is either expensive, or considered great.
That being said, personally, I love Chateau d’Yquem. The wine offers a perfect marriage of concentration, intensity, purity of fruit, complexity in the nose and mouth, high sugar levels and bracing acidity, so that the wine never feels cloying or tiring to taste. Yquem is also one of the world’s longest lived wines. 1988 to me is stunning today. But it’s best days are far off in the future. If you do not like it now, you are probably not going to like it in the future. But perhaps your tastes will change. Have you tasted other Sauternes?
Also from your description of the bottle, it sounds like it has been less than well cared for with the sticky foil and stain on the neck. Not saying it was, but the possibility of a fake is also there these days.
I also love d’Yquem. Robert, unless the wine was not stored properly over the years or has some other flaw, you just may not like the wine. Do you generally like Sauternes?
Jeff, this should not be a closed wine, even if it could still improve. Assuming the bottle is sound, I cannot imagine the problem is with the wine’s age, etc. I doubt there are explanations for why he would like it better at another time or another place. He just does not seem to like it. And this is one of the rare wines where you and I agree!!!
1988 Yquem is currently my favorite out of 15 or so vintages that I have had. Great balance. Big, but not too big. No bitter tones when I had it last at Per Se with fois gras. One of the great wines of my life and not to be compared to Bonny Doon. Bad bottle possibly, maybe a very slowly cooked one.
Howard, who said it was a closed wine? His comments seemed to show the wine was sound, aside from the dry finish. But maybe that is how he sees it. We all do not like the same wines… You should know that
I bought the bottle from K&L and picked up about a month ago, so I don’t doubt authenticity. It may have been a compromised bottle. That being said, for me, I would value this at about $50. A very good pour but not something I would return to any time soon. Some of us just have plebeian palates.
Robert - I’ve been lucky to try dozens of d’Yquems. And I remain unmoved - lovely wine, but just not hitting my preferences and pleasure centres. I prefer German sweet wines by quite a margin (sadly, many are now more expensive than d’Yquem!). Just goes to show, if you don’t like mushrooms you won’t like a “100 point Chanterelle”
I think the bigger issue is diminishing returns. Is a 2006 SQN Shot in the Dark three times better than a 2006 Alban Seymour’s? I think not and it may actually be better. Is a SE at $850(if you can get it for that) 8 times better than Corison Cab? Rhetorical.
When does the price point of good wine stop being about quality and more about market forces?
This I think. I would prefer to think the bottle was flawed, but I think that difference between really good wine and really great wine is not that far apart. I enjoy Sauternes and have had many tasty ones as this was. But since price is an objective way to determine value, for me, this was overpriced.
For me, I have been buying a bunch of Climens over the past few years because I have gotten it for $30-35 a half bottle on futures and I really like Climens. And, I drink a whole bunch of German auslese, etc., for every bottle of Sauternes I drink. But, I like having a few bottles of d’Yquem around for special occasions. Everyone has to make their own decisions.
I love Yquem, and the 1988 is consistently one of my favorites. I still wouldn’t pay $300 for a 375 of it, even if in perfect condition.
The bottle in your post looks notably darker in color than the ones I purchased on release (375s and 750s), so I suspect yours may have been subject to some elevated temps along the way.
You picked an excellent year for Yquem. Among the best I’ve ever had. If the bottle was sound, and you didn’t like it, then Yquem may not be for you. It’s not for everyone.
My bottles of 88 are lighter, so there may have been some bottle variation. That said, K&L is usually pretty good.
The price will never be worth it, unless it is for you. I splurge on Yquem, most recently on the 2015 today…
Of course you get diminishing returns. Very quickly wine prices incorporate prestige and scarcity over pure objective quality improvements. Yquem is a very special wine. I find 1988 to be a very good/excellent vintage for them. Tasted alongside 1989 and 1990, I think it shows well, but I don’t think it has the truly superlative length and depth of a remarkable year, such as 2001.
There is great quality up and down the realm of Sauternes and Barsac. I particularly love Climens and Rieussec. It’s okay not to want to pay the premium for Yquem. Trust your palate. The seepage on the cork, though, makes me wonder if there was a bit more oxidation than you might otherwise.
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