Hello,
Can someone help recommend some relatively young and easy-to-find vintages of Chateau d’Yquem that are ready to drink at the moment? I know these wines keep evolving pretty much indefinitely, but how old would I have to go to get much, if not most of what these wines have to offer?
Thanks in advance!
2017 is delicious now.
2009 is amazing.
I would not recommend young Yquem. The glory of Yquem is with age. Young, others can provide equal quality for less price.
I was going to suggest any of '86, '88, '89, or '90, which are drinking well.
2001 or 2009 are epic in a hedonistic way, but a bit of a waste to drink now.
Close to equal maybe, but that’s the beauty - d’Yquem is the best and it’s already cheap.
I had the 2009 a month ago and it was spectacular. However, it still has a long way to go before it reaches its apogee. I was tasting with a friend who has never had really aged Yquem and it felt a little like a missed opportunity for him, that we should have waited another 15 years.
I have very little experience, but I’ve had from the 89 vintage, the 1997 vintage and 2014. It was clear the 2014 was very young, nothing at all like the other two. Was the 2014 drinkable - sure. Was it good, sure. Was it nearly as memorable as the other two, no way. However it was a great learning point to have one so young to see WHY the aged ones are what they are.
I have been told they have started to make D’Yquem in a way that is more approachable at a younger age as people aren’t buying/cellaring wine like they used to (lots of other threads on this topic) so LVMH et al has tinkered a little bit with the process.
I think Yquem is always accessible young, just different. I drank the 01 on release and it was spectacular in a super hedonistic way. The wine to drink early, though was 01 rieussec, that was like a supernova; it’s never been as good as it was right after release. Aging isn’t always good.
I agree, it was just clearly different, some may prefer it young, some may prefer with age. Funny, a lot of my wine (looking at you Napa Cab) I prefer younger but something like D’Yquem, in my brief experience, I prefer with age on it.
I think it all depends on a number of factors, most important of which is likely vintage. 89 is one of the best vintages of Yquem and 14 is mediocre. 97 is ok.
I’ve had >100 vintages of Yquem and they’re all different.
Anyone have more information on this?
I remember this was a concern when they bought their stake.
I don’t think this is at all true.
could have been 100% sales pitch. it was a distributor and he was talking about the '14 vintage. did they change 100’s of years of tradition after the sale, again I have no idea given my very slim experience; I am no expert. Just rehashing what I was told.
Yquem is yquem. The newer vintages are made no differently than the older vintages, although if there’s a difference it’s because of increased ripeness from climate change.
Who drinks young d’Yquem? Drink the 29. If you can’t afford it drink the 59. If you can’t afford it drink the 89. If you can’t afford it, drink… coke?
I cannot claim experience with 100+ vintages but my best experiences with Yquem have been either young (within ~8 years of the vintage) or old (25++ years). In between they lack either the exuberant fruit of youth or the spicy/saffron complexity that age brings. As others have said the vintages all have distinct characters and it’s fun to try a diversity of them
Uh 01 and 09 are pretty spectacular atm
Don’t touch 89. 75 and 76 are glorious right now. 