Does Declassified d'Yquem exist?

A different thread mentioned these and then I heard about them being available at retail, so naturally it made me curious. Reportedly d’Yquem gives bottles to their employees and it is genuine d’Yquem that has a generic label to prevent flipping. That would be different from declassified wine, though. So, what (if anything) do we know about this? There are a few bottles on Cellar Tracker but no tasting notes and the inter web is short on detail.

There was a rumor a while back that Haut Charmes was declassified Yquem. If that’s true, then all I can say is… there is a good reason that those grapes were declassified. It was mediocre at best… poor in many ways. I’ve never heard about them giving away wine to employees.

Ashish my friend, I have just consumed 88 Yquem for the second time within a week. Extremely close to 01. Your thoughts, please sir?

Le Tertre du Lys d’Or allegedly.

I saw your TN on the '88 and had me drooling at my desk. I just picked up an '88, sounds like I will be happy I did.

88 is easily the best of the 88-90 trifecta

I, unfortunately, have never tried the '88. I would love to but have not yet had the chance. I saw your note and it sounded incredible. I’ll have to find an excuse (and a reliable source!) to pick one up.

Interesting comment, need to find me some. Love love love the '89 an the '90 ain’t half bad either.

I’ve always liked the 89 but I have a 90 making an appearance in a few weeks for a special dinner

This is what I’m talking about:

I have the contact info for someone at the domaine, so I can reach out to him and get more specifics. I met him earlier this year, and he explained that there is no second wine, and that they don’t sell off in bulk to maintain the integrity of the brand (same thing with Y). I’m pretty sure he said they bottle the “declassified” wine to use for a variety of reasons, among them, was to give to the employees, HOWEVER, I’m a little fuzzy on these details (and I usually remember most everything!). I’ll reach out and report back.

All 24 bottles in CT show they were bought from BB&R. Possibly a BOB (Buyers Own Brand) that BB&R has brought in???

Thanks for all the input regarding the 88 Yquem,well worth seeking out.

David, sorry for the thread drift, this is a fascinating topic and I would love to be able to find some of this declassified Yquem.

Thanks Ian. Please report back

I have been wondering about this as well. In fact this wine is one of the reasons I want to add a “blacklist” feature so that even if a user creates garbage, I can make an editorial decision to at least hide it from the core search that is used when adding wines to your cellar. You would still be able to search for it in other ways and could visit the wine detail page, but I could make wine add screen less noisy from obviously odd or one-off things.

There is no declassified d`Yquem, and sellers who say so are crooks!

True. But they do make another Sauternes from young vines, completely separate vineyard, same team, I believe.

So what is that other Sauternes called? And one wonders how it was marketed by some retailers.

Exactly Eric, I’d like to know the same thing.

PS Another great brunch at Craigie on Main today. Your pal is a genious.

It is sold as Sauternes a.c. so completely anonymous