Would be great to hear from the WB whether there are any recommendations for Sauternes value plays. This was great, but steep - per reputation
2007 Château d’Yquem- France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (2/17/2019)
Opened two glasses using Coravin as a Valentine’s Day treat. This is my FIRST D’YQUEM EXPERIENCE after having only read about this wine for the last twenty-five years. Many people consider this perhaps the greatest wine in the world and it feels pretty great to have the ability to taste it myself. Obviously I am going to have to guard against confirmation bias in this note.
Wine is a really remarkable golden orange which changes hue in different light. Really never seen anything like this.
On nose, wine appears sound. Deeply aromatic with notes of honey, pineapple, caramel. Cream and candied apricot. Tiny undertone of lime.
On palate, wine is sound. High acid, zero tannin, very full body (creamy), high alcohol, incredibly long finish. Strong buttered honey, citrus, and caramel notes on palate, with a long buttered pastry and grapefruit finish.
This is like no other Sauternes - or any wine - I have ever had. This is actually a remarkable wine. The hype is real. Would be interesting to taste other top Sauternes houses without the renown of D’Yquem to see if there’s a value sweet spot elsewhere. But in the meantime, this stuff is pretty darn magical. (94 pts.)
None of the other Sauternes I’ve had have ever measured up to Yquem. But Rieussec can get you close. La Tour Blanche can be good value if you can find it. Coutet for something a little more delicate. I’ve found a bunch of nice back-vintages of Guiraud (denser) and Lafaurie-Peyraguey (less dense) for $20-40/375ml.
Second the Tokaji recommendation. Royal Tokaji is widely distributed and very good.
Thanks all for the suggestions. I have had botrytised chenin and also Tokai before and loved both of them.
I also did a little reading and was surprised to see that Sauternes is just not that popular these days. Given low prices, I want to experiment with some Sauternes-and-food pairings to see if I can come up with something clever.
I will never forget my first experience with Yquem. I was attending my first wine dinner with a national wine tasting group in Washington, DC. I cannot remember exactly but it was a 5-6 course meal with different wines for each course. When it came time for dessert a '49 Yquem was served. It was darker than most all the white wines I had been drinking and when I tasted it I thought it was terrible. At the time I had only been drinking wine for a few months and it seemed like I had committed the greatest Faux Pas of any living being. A gentleman seated across form me was outraged, “HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?” I told him I was not touching any more and was looked for one of the other wines from the evening. He even asked if he could have what was left in my glass. I said sure and made that mans night.
I have only had Yquem a couple of times since then, and I am sorry, I just cannot see what the big deal is all about. My loss.
