2003 Yquem 37.5CL

Sauternes

₱17,295
Unit price per

TASTING NOTES:

Wine Rating: RP 96 points
Drink by: 2014 - 2040

The average June temperature for 2003 was the warmest ever recorded at Yquem since they installed their first weather station in 1896. And things were only just starting to heat up. This notoriously hot vintage nonetheless produced some very pleasant Bordeaux surprises, Yquem being one. As readers can guess, obtaining the necessary sugar levels was not the problem this year. If it was a question of sugar alone, berries could well have been harvested in August. But come September, the wait was on for the botrytis. Fortunately, a little rain beginning on the 5th of September kick-started proceedings, and with the help of continued warm temperatures, the noble rot took off like a rocket! After this, frenetic harvesting and strict selection ensued. Harvest was over in a record nine days, resulting in a super-rich, concentrated, and full botrytized expression that beautifully does justice to both the vintage and to Yquem.

Medium lemon-gold colored, the 2003 d'Yquem seems to be emerging from a slumber, awakening with gloriously expressive notes of ginger ale, pineapple upside-down cake, toasted hazelnuts, star anise, cinnamon stick and preserved mandarin peel plus hints of lemon butter, crushed rocks, musk perfume, and chalk dust. Full-bodied, super concentrated and decadently unctuous, the palate exudes waves of preserved tropical fruits and citrus sparks charged with energetic freshness, finishing epically long and wonderfully spicy. Alcohol is 13.5% this year, while the residual sugar comes in at a whopping 147 grams per liter, nicely balanced by a total acidity of 4.2 grams per liter H2SO4.

400 years of passion, the history of Château d’Yquem is like a novel, an epic saga full of events and colourful personalities spanning more than four centuries. Romain-Bertrand de Lur-Saluces, Françoise-Joséphine's grandson, took his role as manager of Yquem very much to heart, rather than simply taking possession of the family estate, which had become mythical by this time.

In 1855, in posthumous recognition of the tremendous accomplishments of "the lady of Yquem", the estate was designated the one and only premier cru supérieur in the famous classification made at the request of Emperor Napoléon III.