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1999 Château d’Yquem - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (8/15/2013)
From a 750. Medium golden color; nose is complex with an overarching funkiness (grey rot?) with an underlying salinity to it, only slight hints of the usual baking spice, orange rind; palate has good sweetness, much lighter than expected in the midpalate, salinity, balanced acidity in the midpalate, palate is on the simple side for an Yquem without multiple layers of fruit or secondary complexity, a bit of mandarin orange; finish is short-medium length, slightly thin, lacking fruit. This is still recognizable as Yquem as it still has the balance of concentration vs. elegance (sits in the category between Barsac and Sauternes), though this is probably tilted a little bit more towards the Barsac/minerality end than the concentrated end. There is a funkiness on the nose that I haven’t experienced before (some say there may have been a bit of grey rot that made it in this vintage), but there is good complexity on the nose beyond that. More concerning is the palate, which is simpler, thinner, and with a shorter finish than any other Yquem I have tried. This is either in an awkward phase (possible given its age) or it is one of the poorer Yquem (though still a good sauternes). Unclear whether it might improve… it seems youthful without any significant secondary character so far but also without the stuffing to really get much better. Would not recommend at its current price. 89
Update 4 hours: The funkiness on the nose has mostly resolved, but the palate is still on the simpler side with a short finish. It is a nice barsac-styled sauternes which goes well with food due to its minerality/salinity. It is representative of Yquem in its style, but it just lacks the complexity and quality of even mid-tier vintages (96/97/98) much less excellent vintages of Yquem (01/03/88/89). (89 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
If anyone else has tried this wine recently, I would love to hear what you think. I know that some here think this wine had some grey rot. It’s difficult for me to assess, since I don’t know if I’ve tried grey rot before. This wine did have a little bit of funkiness, but that blew off so I’m not sure that’s what it was. Either way, it was an enjoyable sauternes (still more left for the next couple of days), consistent with the Yquem-style, but not necessarily at the level of complexity of most Yquem.