Tasting Notes 229 found

Flat out gorgeous. Honeyed apricot and a hint of ginger. Incredible mouthfeel without being heavy. Expands across the whole palate.

Almost 40 years old but can probably age another 40 years without a problem. (154 views)

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Final wine of the 1st Growth night!

Dark yellow in the glass. Nose of honey and orange cream and maybe a hint of ginger. Palate is really creamy but doesn't seem to have the finesse of say an '01? Hard to argue the greatness of this one. I would drink it 365 days a year if I had it! Wonderful! (512 views)

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I brought this from OWC auctioned one year ago, for teh seafood dinner in 索罟湾 with the parents from SH. This was far better than our last one, goldn colour, good complex aroma, oily palate with good structure and long after taste. It was still young! (168 views)

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It was a disappointed btl for such a great vintage. The colour was light gold, nose was subtle, lean structure. I wonder if this btl was badly kept. (530 views)

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What a treat - powerful notes of honey, quince, burnt caramel and shortbread lead to a mellifluous blend of smooth honey, dried fruits and almonds, with lingering touch of crème brûlée on the finish. Sublime. (802 views)

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Chateau d'Yquem 1986
Lovely golden color, very silky and sumptuous. Very elegant to the nose and palate.
Tasting notes: dried fruits (apricot, plum), honey, spices (saffron, cinnamon, pepper, liquorice) a slight mineral note too.
Absolute perfect balance between the sweetness and the acidity.
Probably this is not just drinking a glass of wine, it’s a real experience! (1598 views)

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cork fully saturated. disappointing to say the least. cork is pretty small, not sure holding 375mls for this long is a good plan unless they started using better corks!! (1475 views)

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Fine bottle, fine wine, but I find these more of a novelty than truly pleasurable now. All apricot and a wicked headache. (1489 views)

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One of my (new) favorite Yquems — has gotten a pronounced smoky burning rubber burnt caramel pepper character that gives depth and mystery, while still retaining brightness and of course sweetness. Fantastic pairing with Christmas beef roast. (1286 views)

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Not too dark, deep golden in color with most sweetness resolved. Tasted with a caramel apple tart, but the d'Yquem can be a dessert unto itself. Paired with a bottle of 1983 Lafaurioe Peyraguey which seemed insipid compared to the rich, complex Yquem.
I don't think there is any hurry here to drink this beauty. This was purchased upon release, but even at current prices d'Yquem is a great value for drinking not investment. A friend of mine had a 3L bottle of 1983 d'Yquem that he wanted to package with his outstanding cellar for auction by Zachy's. They took everything but the 3L of d'Yquem. (maybe he should send it to Yquem and have them rebottle it in smaller bottles?) (1401 views)

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Good vintages of Yquem (Chicago, IL): From half-bottle. I may well have misjudged this wine in the past. Tonight's bottle (of a colour that was comparable to the 2011) was one of the most compelling Yquems I've had. It's crystalline and bright, with a deft, light touch to the fruit, and focussing more on minerality than opulence. Perhaps this is what the modern incarnations are aiming at. So light and lithe on the palate, with this incredible freshness and lift that made this so easy to drink and enjoy. What a splendid example of a vintage that I had never been particularly keen on. (1766 views)

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I didn't realize that I had drank and rated this wine previously (12/2/2020), and my impressions then were identical to now. Yquem for me is magical, but this is a vintage that has twice underwhelmed, either because it's past its prime or not among the very best. (1099 views)

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Fully consistent with my last note, this bottle was unlucky to follow an Egon Muller spatlese - which highlighted the lack of acidic cut in the slightly flabby 86. I’m increasingly much preferring the 88/89 duo for a similar price. 95pts tonight (1562 views)

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From half bottle. Baked pineapple, cinnamon and botrytis on the nose. Oily with sour pineapple in the mouth. Long finish albeit not the most broad or complex. Lovely though not in league of 88/89. Better from full bottles - this bottle isn’t as good as others from my cellar. 96pts (1564 views)

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KYD #2.4: Packed with plenty of botrytis, orange, saffron and vanilla but also some quince. There is also a touch of oak.
Lovely complexity and a decent intensity. What a treat to taste this! Loved it! (1051 views)

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Les Degustateurs last tasting for a dear friend (Smyth and the Loyalist Chicago, IL): As said in prior notes, it’s only getting better. (1579 views)

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Papies at 30 (The Waterside Inn): By the glass ( via coravin) at The Waterside Inn.
Frankly among the lower end of experiences we have come across with otherwise what is liquid gold. This and maybe it was our bottle just lacking depth and excitement and could well be a function of the 86 vintage and how warm it was. It’s a a very good wine don’t get us wrong but for the price , the pedigree and the inherent expectation this ranks low. An objective 92 (1927 views)

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"It's the hardest working liver in the galaxy Morty!"; 4/21/2023-4/22/2023 (Indianapolis): Opened earlier in the afternoon but served late night with a tray of canelés to cap one of the best lineups of wine I've ever explored. It's classic d'Yquem with its rich, luscious palate presence and an array of tropical and citrus fruits accented by honeyed, orange marmalade, and spicier botrytis notes. The botrytis here does overwhelm the other flavours on the finish where it feels a touch bitter and detracts slightly from the rest of the wine, but this is still a tremendous wine and (unsurprisingly) a perfect pairing for canelés. (2313 views)

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Indianapolis VI; 4/21/2023-4/22/2023 (Indianapolis, IN): From half-bottle. It really says something when a correct bottle of Yquem is the worst wine of the day. This was definitely consistent with my previous experiences -- a good but not great vintage. In some ways, it very much mirrors my experiences with red Bordeaux in this vintage -- quite structural and large-scaled, but charmless at the same time. This shows some bitterness on the midpalate through to the finish. The botrytis is prominent and shows mostly as bitter grapefruit marmalade; in fact the bitter notes very much remind me of citrus pith. Quite sweet, and with generous acidity, this does drink like an old-school Yquem, and while there's a lot of excitement to be had with the new editions, the old-school, aristocratic sensibility of this is what I think of when I think of Yquem. (2442 views)

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750ml bottle. Still very young in colour. Marzipan, almost savoury, sandalwood, orange peel, toast, 薏米, honey, very complex, doesn’t feel overly sweet at all. Superb balance with a lot of nuances and constantly evolve in the glass. Like other great vintage sweet wines (last one I had was 1988 quintarelli Recioto), what’s really charming is always the savoury within the sweetness. Endless length! Outstanding wine! (1857 views)

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We popped for a friend's birthday celebration. Served at cellar temp, 55 degrees, alongside some custard fruit tarts. Yquem is the most fascinating wine on the planet in my view. The effort that goes into making it is extraordinary. The dried fruit and syrupy orange character is sublime. And this 86 (high school grad year, BTW) will outlive me. Incredible acidity to carry it on for decades. 2 left in the cellar. they will not make it beyond 2026. What an experience. Life and wine are good! (1935 views)

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Used the Coravin to pour 5oz each from a magnum at 55 degrees, no decant - just allowing it to change in the glass. Rich orange/gold color with honeysuckle and apricot nose. Initial citrus tartness that turns into sweet apricots, pears, and honey. As it warmed, the sweetness & flavors lingered longer and longer. Enjoyed with torchon and white fig confit, this was beautifully complex and delightful. In this format it will drink for many years to come! (2417 views)

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The Grill Dinner: [Yquem flight at The Grill]
On the nose, rubber, peach, burnt sugar. Palette also carries rubber (slight VA or something odd), dates, raisins, slight mushroom and earthiness. Really great acid still, fruit fading for the most part into tertiary notes. Most developed, but not really hitting the notes for me as it was my least-liked Yquem. (2463 views)

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Friday Night Brown Bagger (J&J's): Double blind, from a standard bottle. Light golden color with an intoxicating bouquet of pineapple, honey, peach and pear nectar. Rich, full and layered, with tremendous depth and presence across the palate. Flavors of orange zest, ripe peach, spun sugar and pear nectar. A stunningly great bottle of Sauternes. 97-98+ pts.

There is one wine which triggers that pear nectar note for my palate, and it's d'Yquem. Could it be? Yes, go with your gut. Appears and tastes young, and knowing this is our hosts' bottle I knew it must be older than it appears. I guessed '97 d'Yquem, but should have known it was from an even older, stronger vintage. Still, I am happy to have guessed the producer.

A very generous contribution from our hosts in honor of R&D's recent 45th anniversary celebration. Thank you J&J. (3279 views)

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Knockout nose with notes of melon, oranges, honey, ripe peach, and apricot. Excellent balance with lots of acidity and notes of honey, orange peel, citrus, and more melon on the palate. Very long finish. Simply outstanding Yquem! (3500 views)

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Medium gold color. Beautiful pure peach, butterscotch candy, and botrytis bouquet. Magnificent acid/fruit balanced flavor. Butterscotch note. To call this wine complex is a severe understatement.
Served from a half bottle. Will live for at least another decade. (3021 views)

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Was a little disappointed in what this wine should be. Lacked full body in my opinion. Perhaps still too young. (3431 views)

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Honey, nuts, apricot, and pear on the complex nose. Good acidity with almost glycerine mouthfeel and notes of orange, honey, tart stone fruit, and boytritis. The finish is really long. Outstanding wine! (3028 views)

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Relatively pale yellow gold let’s you know this is not one of the massive Yquems. The botrytis is more delicate and the fruit more in the yellow than orange range. Acidity is a bit too high for the concentration so that one glass is enough but it’s enjoyable now. (2858 views)

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Excellent. From 375, PnP. Profound example of D’Yquem from a great vintage (2120 views)

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1986 Bordeaux plus some supplements (Restaurant Brunnenstube, Beinstein): From 1/1 bottle. Not decanted. Tasted blind. Clear, medium amber color. Classic Sauternes nose, lots of botrytis, nail polish remover, fans out with temperature and air and gets more complex.
On the palate again classic Sauternes, but lacks the depth, tension, excitement and complexity I usually admire in great Yquem. There was also an unusual stickiness on the palate, that I never had in Yquems before. And the wine was not served too warm.. Nevertheless, the finish is wonderful defined and very, very long. Very good, but far from being great. 91-92 (2692 views)

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Tropical fruit nose on opening 9 hours prior to table service ...at that time deep yellow with caramelized peaches pummeling the olfactory senses. The 9 hour decant turned this into a thick viscous candied pineapple bomb with an S and M whip of botrytis and a 12 minute finish of ripe mango and honeysuckle. Probably better in 2050, but a force to be reckoned with now-the ultimate dessert wine that always delivers !!At release the greatest wine store in Seattle (McCarthy and Shiering) offered me 30% off if I bought 3 cases-happy to oblige and smart move in retrospect 33 years later. (1623 views)

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Amazing creamy texture. Still quite young, light for an Yquem. Colour has not changed much. Complex but in a floral way — apricot flowers and vanilla. Many years ahead … (2415 views)

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For Yquem this is not a very good showing. Alcohol and phenolics poke through the modest fruit. Fairly pale. Modestly fragrant. Medium sugar, not much botrytis. And as Goodwine4ever notes, nail polish. Okay for a dessert wine but subpar for Yquem. (2585 views)

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Ce Yquem 1986 ne fut pas un gros wow pour moi. La raison est simple, un manque d'acidité qui amène une lourdeur au vin qui me déplait. Cependant, les aromes étaient superbes ! Abricot et Ananas confits, vernis a ongles, une belle richesse et longueur en bouche. Bref un superbe Sauternes mais loin d'être un des meilleurs que j'ai bue. Le magnifique Coutet 86 bue en même temps lui a peut-être nuit dans mon évaluation. (2881 views)

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Back in NYC (Francie): Out of a little shot glass which in some ways was good since I OD'ed on this wine a few years ago and so I find now a little bit goes a long way. This is one of my favorite (and I think underrated) vintages of this wine. Drinking very well but with plenty of years left. (3006 views)

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The 86 Yquem shows well immediately after decanting with a rich bitter citrus marmalade style balancing its considerable fresh-sugary sweetness. While this hasn't developed as much complexity as some other Yquems of the era, it is impressive in its volume, mouthfeel, and persistence. (3505 views)

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Lush and richly fruited on the nose but incredibly flat on the palate, seeming to possess almost no acidity. Nice enough nose, but I never would have taken this for Yquem. Hopefully it is not representative. This particular example is so dissonant with my experiences with mature Yquem that I'm reluctant to score it, but if I were it would be somewhere in the 87-88 range. (3313 views)

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Nose: peach/nectarine, caramelized pineapple, florals, creme brulee and spiced praline notes. Nicely lifted nose that fills the glass.. Palate: surprisingly low acidity for an d"yquem. Beautiful flavors of blood orange, apricot, caramel and florals. A bit of nutmeg and orange zest. Finish: Slightly cloying perhaps, but had lengthy presence. Apricot, fig and a white chocolate element.

Blind many at the table called this as de fargues. Next to the 2006 this was still clearly Sauternes, but a very different expression. (2226 views)

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Earned the nomenclature "Nectar of the Gods" AND "Liquid Gold", this evening. Drank at dinner with friends celebrating a 40th wedding anniversary. Exquisite!
Ripe apricots and pineapple, with a hint of lemon, and laced with hazelnuts, this after dinner treat was drank alongside a delicious homemade carrot cake, and was a glory road finish. Full-bodied, rich with complex favors, this is one of the best vintages of Chateau d'Yquem that I have EVER tasted. I have tasted over fifty different vintages of Chateau d'Yquem. (2564 views)

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Online Blind Tasting: BDX vs Napa plus some Sweets: Tasted blind. Note based on ~ 5cl bottle, filled two days before the tasting.
Glass: Zalto Universal
Clear, deep amber color. Clean, prounced and developing nose. For sure Sauternes and probably Yquem. Fine and balanced, rather complex.
Sweet, but not too much, medium+ acidity. Dried and candied fruit and fruit peel, figs, apricot, honey, spices, nuts. Elegant, deep and of course very long and lingering finish. Lacks a bit tension and excitement, but this is a very, very good Sauternes with potential for decades. 94+ (2593 views)

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from a full bottle opened 2 hours before enjoying over a 2 hour period.

dazzling gold color, intense honeyed mandarin oranges, white truffles, mousse, on the palate lush and rich with layers of judiciously candied ripe citrus fruits, elegant mousse throughout, with a time a bright white chocolate note emerges, a lovely baking spice note on the remains of the oak, with time some tropical notes emerge- notably pineapple- but this is all about the waves of glorious mousse, I have not been a fan of the oak treatment here starting with the 2001 and sadly my stocks of pre-2000 Yquem are dwindling, this particular bottle was showing just the least bit rough on the finish but I do not have enough TNs for this vintage to know if it is particular to the bottle or if this is now starting to show the early signs of a slow decline, for all the hype over 2001 and the great trio of 1988-1990- it is the 1986 that moves me most deeply (the 1997 will get there in time I think as well) and this was a spectacular showing- Yquem at its finest in full cry.

*****, ready to go and I would think best consumed within the next 15-20 years. (2695 views)

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During an exuberant wash down the 2020 Covid year with some good Bordeaux Lunch&Dinner. What else could it be to finish off our Bonanza than an Yquem. Orange color, Nose of dried apricot dominating with smoke, quince. Good acidity, a touch too heavy for me but nice. (3594 views)

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d'Yquem normally blows my mind, but this bottle was just good, not great. I think it's past its peak and isn't currently benefitting from additional time in bottle, though perhaps there's a later stage that's better. The primary fruit has been reduced by age, and I don't think the transformation makes up for that. I'd drink now, but note that I don't have experience with 40+ year old d'Yquem. (2849 views)

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A special wine. From 750. Bronzed gold in color. Incredible balance. Fantastic! Initially a little funk and earthiness then dried apricot, honey, melon, citrus. Both mouth coating and mouth watering with a lengthy finish. This wine tasted amazingly fresh and young! Many years of life ahead. (2724 views)

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Magnum (2460 views)

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Remains excellent, although I am less enamoured with Sauternes, even Yquem, than most. Delicious for a short glass. (3261 views)

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Charleston Food & Wine Festival IV (for us... XV for the rest I think); 3/5/2020-3/8/2020 (Charleston, SC (various locations)): Hard not to like D'Yquem and this is a year that I tend to enjoy. I think it's prob slightly lower acid, but there's all of the sweetness and fruit and kindof intriguing texture. We did a big d'Yquem dinner last fall and I find that since that dinner my max is a small glass, but it is a lovely way to start to close out the meal. (3666 views)

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DM (3159 views)

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Sauternes study (Chicago, IL): From half-bottle. I'm starting to think whether the 1986 Sauternes vintage is a bit of a red herring in that it's just not as good as how it's talked up. Like the 1986 Climens, this shows a bit of almondy high-tonedness on the nose that didn't really ever go away, despite my opening this the day before we drank it. The palate doesn't have the richness and raw power of the best vintage, and the botrytis isn't too intense either. A little more on the herbal side with medium complexity; a great wine but perhaps an average Yquem. It's certainly not at the level of the 2001 (or the 1988-90 trilogy). (5034 views)

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Oh man ... amazing. Dissipating oily notes at first, but just extraordinary; nose, balance, finish. (3327 views)

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Aye with a standing Rib Roast. Really paired andbstood up to it. Very balanced with pepper and stone fruit. Great Vintage ad i am glad i drank it because ot might be nearong its peak.. (3210 views)

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Charleston Offlineorama V; 11/7/2019-11/10/2019 (The Holy City): Loved it. Rich, thick and unctuous without being cloying. There are cloves, dried pinapple and a long finish. The balance illustrates the greatness that is Yquem. (3001 views)

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Charleston V - the wooden anniversary; 11/6/2019-11/10/2019 (Charleston, SC (various locations)): I believe this is one of the more underrated vintages of D'Yquem. And it seems to be in a wonderful spot right now. Here there is a bit more of a mouthful than the '81. It's very round and lovely. But also with that racy acidity that keeps it light and pretty. The best part is the finish. Just goes on and on. I can still taste it the next day. (3092 views)

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Medium gold. Smoke, candied sugar, dried fruit, botrytis. I wished for a bit more acidity. Good but not a stunner. (3916 views)

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This bottle needed 2 hours of decant. Initially the nose was very petrolium with some honey and apricot. AFter some time the Petrolium note disapated and the wine began to open up showing notes of honey, apricot and peach. While this bottle of d'yquem was not as outstanding as the 83 or the 90 it is still a beautiful wine worth the d'yquem name. (3362 views)

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Wanted to give this a much bigger score but there was a slight Sherry type after taste which wasn’t pleasant, cork wasn’t great and perhaps a slightly faulty bottle, great shame as only one and had heard great things....amazing colour. Anyone had similar experience?

Tasted with 1995 which very good and the always excellent 1990. (3433 views)

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1986 Left Bank Bordeaux: Caramel and spices, complex nose with some varnish; full bodied, smooth --- but with balancing acidity, extremely long, complexity in tons. (4557 views)

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Bordeaux 1986 Stock, Oslo: Mørk gyllengul. Intens, søt duft med marsipantoner, appelsinmarmelade og et et hint av knekk og karamell. Intens og konsentrert smak, stor konsentrasjon, herlig viskositet, meget pent balansert mellom sødme og syre. Fabelaktig avslutning. (4167 views)

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NDG: 9/1/19 dinner with Magnums of 9 to celebrate the start of 2019 (Imperial Treasure Teochew, Ion): Lovely - I liked this more than the last time I had it some 9 years back. What an attractive nose this had, with reams of dried stone fruit, preserved kumquats, floral drifts, a shoot of glycerol, and then just a little touch of that d’Yquem coconut. The palate had a lovely sense of balance and poise to it, with lovely gobs of honeyed stone fruit, a hint of caramel, burnt butter, all this slowing unfolding in the mouth in a lovely graceful glide into a long gently spicy, stone fruited finish. I somehow did not get that same feel of slight lack-of-depth that I got in the last bottle. This was sticky, persistent, deep, yet effortless. Beautiful stuff, still really young and energetic as well. (3742 views)

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Very integrated and showing nice maturity. Notes of mixed nuts, orange peel, lanolin, pine and forest. (3402 views)

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The ‘86 D’Yquem was gorgeous in its maturity, showing a mix of dried orange peel, accentuated by lime zest with dried peaches, apricot, sweet herbal tones and dusty minerality. On the palate, I found a velvety expression, nearly coating all of the senses, yet kept lively by brisk acidity and giving way to a mix of sweet lime-infused mango and spiced orange. The finish was wonderfully long and floral, with hints of honey, ripe peach and lingering minerality. (3941 views)

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Nose of honeysuckle, sawdust, wet dog, honied summer fruits; not really sweet, more just a knife-edge balance between richness and acidity. Haunting aromas and finish that just goes on and on, ethereal, polished and delicate, an enigmatic maze of flavour. Truly majestic, unlike any other Sauternes I have ever tried in terms of refinement and the greatest dessert wine I have ever tried. (2841 views)

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Monthly Tuesday group "The Dead Sparrow" #032: Wines with 98+ points: Orange peel and botrytis in the bouquet. On the palate honey, butterscotch, orange. apricots, beautiful acidity and an enormous length. Great again :-). And still so vital and fresh. (3275 views)

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Friends' Anniversary Dinner (Private Room, Caprice Restaurant, Four Seasons Hotel, Two IFC, Hong Kong): Two bottles opened for several hours but not decanted. Copper gold colour. Nose is a BLAM! of copper and honeycomb... honeyed and really progressively seductive. Palate is liquid honeyed and copperish gold... but still quite tannic and unyielding. Not as impressive when I last drank it in May 2017 when it had benefitted from a long decant (and when I scored it 96). (2983 views)

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Telltale Yquem fireworks on the tongue. Honeycomb, cinnamon, chili, melon. Not at the same level as, say, the 1975 I had a few months ago; by the standards of Yquem not that special; by the standards of everyone else, delicious and intense.
Score : 91. Relative to expectations: - (2696 views)

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Great nose of honey, caramel, and drying apricot that I think is both more expressive and developed than an unreviewed 1990 last week. Still has an edge of tangerine sharpness. Browning orange citrus but not yet nutty. Well integrated and not overly sweet. (3286 views)

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From the oenotheque machine at Hedonism in London. Always a favorite of ours. Honey and the fruit of the orange and just bright and tasty and that lovely lingering finish. Could drink this all the time. (3708 views)

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Got to say I absolutely love this wine! Second time I have gotten to taste this in the last few months and it has just been perfect. A deep golden hue with a nose of honeysuckle and apricots that jumps from the glass. On the palate the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity - honeysuckle, ripe nectarine & apricots, some herbs, super silky mouthfeel and a finish that does not quit. Skip the desert - pour me more of this please:-) (3486 views)

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My Super Secret Surprise Birthday Celebration Extravaganza (Friends apt): Really just lovely. There's a smokiness here which surprised me. Extracted fruits. Caramel. It is a wine with a finish that goes for forever and still can haunt the next day. A bit deeper and darker in nature than some years, but I find that compelling. It feels almost a touch heavier although still lovely acidity. (3748 views)

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The color on this was just a beautiful clear apricot tinged gold. The nose was pure honeysuckle on an early summer day - I could almost hear the bees buzzing away. Just darn delicious, honeysuckle, passion fruit, glycerin smoothness - with that knife edge balance of acidity and sweetness. Paired with a spicy shrimp gnochetti dish - both the wine and pasta got even better! No question in my mind why Yquem is the king of Sauternes. (3543 views)

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Acker Auction - April 2018 (Marea in NYC): Really lovely wine. This is one of my favorite vintages even if that isn't always the popular pov. It's perhaps got a touch less acidity than some of the others. But there's a depth to the flavor. And a wonderful finish that goes for just forever. Paired this with a hint of spice shrimp pasta that and it went perfectly. Also great with the astice (lobster and burrata). Delicious. (3573 views)

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The cork was totally soaked through - fill was very high shoulder, the wine was developed (i.e. fox colour). Not as good as a previous bottle (scored 97) but still a very strong Yquem. Initially it was quite "smokey" on the nose but that blew off with time, was better the second day after having recorked and put back in fridge. (2963 views)

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This is the best bottle of ‘86 Yquem yet as its turned a corner into maturity and is starting to drink beautifully. Medium-bodied and medium-sweet and loaded with bronze Sauternes minerals. Lovely lightly viscous texture really makes this a very elegant and complex Yquem for current drinking. (3058 views)

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Chez F&A in France, showed v well with foie gras de canard, with lovely weight and complexity, best bottle yet. VF (18.5). (3284 views)

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86 and '90 birthyear wines at 2 Star Oriole Restaurant. (Chicago, IL): Delicious, thick, bright color, long finish. Only getting better. (4106 views)

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Zachys Capital Collection Pre-Auction BYO Wine Dinner (Fiola Mare - Washington, DC): Late night, small glass, brief note. Rich and intense stone fruit and tropical fruit with good botrytis-driven complexity. Good+ structure. Moderated sweetness. Very tasty. (5010 views)

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Another bottle... directlonly the same but not as good a bottle, as the balance between sweetness and acidity is a bit off, with too much acidity and not enough depth. Fine not great. (4191 views)

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Fine but not amazing for a Château d'Yquem. (4307 views)

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Guys Night Out Part II (Jason's House): From a 1/2 bottle, drank 1/4 of it over 1 hour. Fantastic Yquem quality on the nose, initial taste and mid-palate. The finish is light in flavor and extremely short, which is sad. It almost disappears right after you take a swallow. Still, good complexity has developed here along with elegance. 93 to 94. (5037 views)

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The Yquem dinner (Chicago, IL): From half-bottle. I've had this Yquem before, and it never stood out to me as a particularly outstanding one, although the general consensus seems to indicate it as such. The nose here is fairly light, and there isn't too much botrytis (relatively speaking). Again, this is a lighter wine on the palate, and there's a good hit of freshness here, but it doesn't have the power as the top vintages do. (5387 views)

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Ananas och exotisk frukt på näsan, lite gummi och bensin också. Lååång eftersmak men inte ett så stort vin som jag hade hoppats. (4318 views)

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Celebration dinner (Heirloom cafe): From a 375. Cork was soaked through with the top forming a sticky seal, but a successful removal with the Durand. The color is an exceptionally youthful light to medium golden; nose is highly aromatic, orange peel, citrus fruit, wild honey, botrytis spice, highly complex and overall fresh and lifted aromas; palate is of medium density, lovely sweetness at first but transitions to clean, minerally, almost overly light on the midpalate, dried apricot, peach; clean medium-length finish. My first time tasting this vintage of Yquem, and overall it shows the Yquem complexity especially on the nose and is very fresh, even now. I might easily confuse it with an 86 or 88 Climens if tasted blind. I have a preference for the complexity and vibrancy of the '88 Yquem over the '86, but it is no slouch. Very enjoyable on a special night. 93-94
Day 3: Largely unchanged but perhaps just a tad flatter than when first opened (less vibrancy throughout). Overall, though enjoyable, I don't think the '86 Yquem is a buy compared to other vintages in the 80s (especially the '88). (4593 views)

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Friday Dinner at our Place (Our House, Hong Kong): Decanted for an hour and drank over the next three. Deep honeyed gold colour. Nose of burnt carameled toffee, soaped new leather car seats and shoe leather, white shoe cream, apricots...very suave but complex. Palate is gorgeously honeyed, rounded, almondy burnished copper and with a medium-cut acidity to stop it getting cloying. Tooth-coating. Massive head-expanding resonance and reverberance and all so smooth-edged... quite silence creating. Wow! Hard to stop sipping. It just gets more head-expanding with more time in the glass and the mouth. 96+ (3991 views)

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Exhilarating. Vibrant nose of butterscotch and orange zest. Tasting was slightly one-dimensional yet delicious ++

If a date, this was a 30 year old model who entertains you all evening as eye candy (4213 views)

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Drank with David and Beth for their 31st (3745 views)

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Colour between straw and amber, showing its age. The bottle (750ml) was low neck fill and the cork got me worried initially as it was very soft at the top - a Durand did the trick to remove this safely, not sure what I would have done without... Luckily the precious liquid was still in great shape. Taken from fridge and decanted for 20 minutes. Wow - what a nose! I could have just sat there and sniffed it all night long. Intense nose of creme brulee, roasted hazelnuts. Really lovely. (BTW after finishing this I smelled the decanter around 1 hour after the last sip was poured and it was still incredibly intoxicating!). On the palate this was hardly a let-down either: it sort of followed through with the nose, had some good acidity and some hints of tropical fruits together with nice deep layers of oozing caramel, nuts. This paired so very well with Foie Gras served on warm brioche and onion jam which was our first course and then later again with some truffled brie for dessert. Really great experience and this wine is in its sweet spot now! My best sweet wine experience to date. Thanks for bringing this along Russ! (4198 views)

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This is decent Sauternes but very disappointing for Yquem. Orange peel, peach and lemon are enjoyable but where is the botrytis? Modest length, good acidity. Maybe just an off (half) bottle. (4238 views)

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Holiday dinner organized by Ken Brown with many great wines! (Ripple Restaurant in Washington D.C.): An excellent wine it was to be sure, and I recall enjoying it very much. But, dear reader, this was a dinner tasting with so many great wines that by the time I got to the 1986, I did not take any careful notes. Then I started to doubt my impression because of the color difference, as it seemed a bit too dark even considering its 30 year age. But, no, fellow participants confirmed its excellence. Having said that, the 2003 left me with the most enthusiastic impression among the four Yquems tasted. (4993 views)

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Moving to a stage showing secondary characteristics. Can sense the vineyard along with lovely / lively fruit purity. Wow wine. (97) (3466 views)

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Dependable, rich. (3693 views)

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Way way way way too young!! This was a nice beautiful sauternes, but you know this baby can do more. I'm afraid that people reading these lines might never be able to see this at the peak...revisit in 10 years... (3827 views)

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A Decadent Wine Day...Zachy's Vault II and Dinner with special guest CVA and friends (Le Bernardin, New York and Chez Walker in Princeton, NJ): Special contribution from Subha and Jim, vintage from year they were married. Incredible way to finish an amazing dinner and decadent day... chilled, opened about 30 minutes before drinking

Beautiful deep gold color. Nose of baked peaches and apricots, honeysuckle, and white flowers. Rich and viscous texture. Palate shows apricot, nectarines, hazelnut, creme brulee. Long and layered finish.

Hard for me to rate d"Yquem as I don't have abroad tasting history with the wine...and have yet to have one I didnt think was amazing...this one no different. Thanks to our good friends for sharing this (4481 views)

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Bordeaux 1986 single blind tasting at Grappe, Stockholm. With Mr Carl-Jan Granqvist and Mr Johan Edström.
The smell of an oncoming summer rain. The highly intensive perfume initially really reminds me of ozon. After that waves of high quality fruit, a whiff of saffron and blue cheese. Great viscous texture, bright acidity, very clean and all about quality. Long finish. Ready but with plenty of life ahead. Very good. (3963 views)

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Underbart utvecklad flaska. Exotisk frukt, honung, saffran, crème caramel, rostade mandlar, apelsinblommor och fin mineral i bakgrunden. Rikt, komplext och djupt med generös frukt och underbar syra som möter upp. (3932 views)

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A friend brought this bottle back from France and it provided a wonderful close to a full evening. Very fresh aromas of honeysuckle, lilies, and overripe white peach. Expansive and mouth coating on the palate with deep rich flavours of apricot and nectarine. Not overly sweet actually, had a few glasses pretty easily. (3630 views)

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French and Italian wine gathering (The Grill Room at Rosewood DC): Expressive nose displaying ripe yellow fruits, strong presence of red fruit, dry apricot, dry peach, sweet spices and crème brulee. As usual, polished and airy, good presence of mineral, bright acidity and long finish. Very enjoyable and nice way to end the evening. (4706 views)

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Not a great success for Yquem. The wine is creamy, rich, thick and long on the palate, but I found it very ethereal which is a problem to me. Lacks finesse, tension and maturity. It is nice but a bit flabby, thus getting quickly boring. (3801 views)

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Not sure if its was, the night, the bottle or the fact we finished my my sons birthday and engagement celebration with his first Yquem, but this was a perfect bottle enhanced by the sharing. Incredibly delicious, intensely concentrated and phenomenally long. A prefect ending to a perfect meal at Atera. (3900 views)

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A small gathering at Prequel (Prequel - Washington DC): Very youthful mineral driven nose displaying yellow pit fruit as well as a hint of red, peach, dry apricot, burnt sugar, red currant, tea, crème brulee, spicy spices and honey. Cool and precise, noticeable mineral, bright acidity and seamless long mineral driven finish. This is a very mineral driven and tight example. Though the color is amber, this will improve further with cellaring. (4480 views)

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Nice viscosity and mouth-feel. Apricots and vanilla, caramel, moderate complexity. A bit short on the palate though, disappointing. This isn't one of the better vintages of d'Yquem. Drink now or hold. This won't gain weight, length, or complexity with further cellaring, though the acidity will keep it fresh. (3625 views)

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From half bottle. Blend of tropical and stone fruits. A solid vintage of Yquem requiring more time. Lacking somewhat in complexity in its current state. Shallower flavors than I would want by this age, but a pleasing textural profile. 93+ (3964 views)

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Birthday dinner: yellow color; in nose and mouth lemon, raisin, fig, banana, mango, passion fruit and pistachio; medium body with a polished texture.

First d'Yquem ever. I had a small glass and took 2-3 sips. Was great but not that impressive. (2906 views)

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A bit edgy in the start, lovely bitters, a whiff of vanilla and some cinnamon/caramel and a good body/backbone; very solid, not very refined. (4118 views)

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Tampa Spring Break (the abridged version); 3/17/2016-3/18/2016 (Various Tampa locations (Mise en Place, Ocean Prime, etc.)): Wine #12: we started this during the afternoon and finished during the evening tasting. This was such a treat. I actually drank it as my last wine of the afternoon as I skipped all of ours to try to taste the other wines with a reasonable palette. It's burnt caramel and orange peel and that amazing acidity that allows the wine to be lovely sweet and stay on the palette without being overpowering. The third favorite wine in the tasting although I'm not sure if I'd been voting (we didn't vote on own wines) this wouldn't have been my top. (5025 views)

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Honey golden amber color, full bodied, rich thick, unctuous, concentrated, complex, elegant, smooth, silky polished nectar in a glass. Passionfruit, apricot and honey notes, sweet vanilla and candied fruit tones are accented by a layer of smoky almond nut tones.

This wine is a chameleon - its amazing complexity reflects the many dimensions of the myriad of fruit, chocolate and fig bacon flavors we tasted in concert. The many dimensions of this wine were highlighted by the disparate dessert selections. The triad of blackberry, bacon wrapped figs and the chocolate bark each revealed a different lens into the nuances of the complex Sauterne.

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/02/dyquem-quintessa-saxum-highlight-otbn.html (4427 views)

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Escape from the Cold; 2/12/2016-2/15/2016 (Sunny & Warm Florida (Del Ray Beach, Jupiter)): This wine is just spectacular. My WOTN. It's orange blossom and honey and caramel and that wonderful balance that D'Yquem always gets where the flavor lasts forever and yet it feels light on its feet. Delicious. (4477 views)

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One of those average greatness from Dyquem....it was more Bordeaux-ish in terms of dynamic as the wine was well crafted, well balanced, but rather static rather than dancing in my mouth. Certainly higher expectation and this doesn't seem to benefit much longer from aging. (3596 views)

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Krug Dinner with Some DRC (The Bristol - Chicago IL): Tropical fruit with very good energy that gives a sense of restraint. Good now, this will continue to improve with more quiet time in the cellar. (4561 views)

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In a wonderful line-up of wines this more than held it's own. I am still somewhat in awe of how D'Yquem can make the wine they make - I can still taste the finish on this a day later. The wine just lives with you. It's hard to believe this is a 30 year old wine - still quite light on its feet. Excellent ending to an excellent evening. (3521 views)

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Dark gold with most of its sweetness resolved. Complex botrytis influenced nose and taste. Years of good drinking ahead.... Delicious! (3856 views)

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Youthful light golden appearance, especially next to the 1983. Enticing apricot and sweet peach nose, remarkably precise fruit with just a hint of honey after 45 mins or so. Fabulous texture, almost weightless intensity. This 375 certainly has the necessary acidity to carry the wines sweet lingering finish. Still quite young with a promising future (4239 views)

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8th of 12 and drunk over a week - mid gold; complex, classy bouquet, honeyed tropical fruit, mango and pineapple with a touch of barleysugar, thankfully without the whiff of sulphur which spoiled some bottles 8-4 years ago; full, round, luscious and oh so long, developing nicely, if not quite up with the golden trio at the end of the eighties. Very fine (18.5/20). (4259 views)

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Sweet, Salty, apples, burnt sugar, great viscous texture, golden color. Not as complex as I remember in previous bottles, but still amazing. (4387 views)

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TN: Dinner 95 & 98 Rayas, 03 Lafite, 95 Trotanoy, 04 Blankiet, 05 Dom and etc. (Eddie V's): Another consistent showing. Very precise nose, apricots, essence of raspberry, red tea, ginger, honey and spicy spices. Weightless and polished, subtle apricot fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity and lovely clean red fruit driven finish. One of the most precise D’Yquem. Lovely! (5332 views)

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Yellow to golden amber in the glass.
Ultimately intriguing and differentiated nose of ripe yellow, and mostly stone-, fruit, present, yet decent, botrytis notes, little honey, fine vanilla sweetness and candied fruit. Distinct notes of herbal spiciness (ginger!) and freshness of green herbs. Constantly evolving and of pure fascination.
Passionfruit, apricot and honey arrive smoothly on the palate in perfect concentration and vitality. Acidity, sweetness and seemless alcohol interact ideally.
Endless finish with delicate spiciness, drive and elegance. A revelation! (4112 views)

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Golden amber in the glass. Wonderful viscosity full of hard, sweet honey, candied walnuts, apricot, yellow peach, tart mango, marmalade, passion fruit, and even some notes of crystallized orange gouda. Amazing and always intriguing to taste, but only ever need just a short glass. (Magnum) (4090 views)

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WTDS at The Kenwood With Some Older Gems (The Kenwood, Mpls, MN): Just got a couple ml's of this sweet nectar. Thanks to Mark for sharing with our table. Showing the d'Yquem pedigree and class, spicy and deep with fantastic persistence. honey, apricot, peach, refined, long...just not enough! (4701 views)

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Honey, nuts, and dry wood on the nose. Very elegant and silky with notes of melon and stone fruits on the palate. Very long finish. (3813 views)

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Lovely wine, if not quite up to other d'Yquems I've had (3670 views)

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Mostly Blind dinner - 88 Krug, 02 Boillot Monty, 02 Laurent CdB, 89 Palmer, 96 Yquem and etc. (Black Salt, Washington DC): Once again the 86 is all about the precision. Beautiful precise nose displaying yellow and red fruits, apricot, peach, red currants, pear tart, red tea, ginger, crème brulee, honey and spicy spices. Very polished and precise palate, sweet subtle red fruit driven palate impression, perfect amount of acidity and lovely clean finish. Not the biggest or most intense D’Yquem but very precise and perfectly balance. Really enjoyable once again and perfectly ready. (5414 views)

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A very good, but not exceptional yquem. It's intense, deeply textured but has a bit too much going on to allow one to drink more than 2 small glasses. "Turned up to 11", in a way. (4372 views)

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Too unbalanced. the first Y'quem I did not finish :( (4398 views)

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Cheval Blanc and D'Yquem dinner with Pierre Lurton and Bernard Burtschy (Taberna del Alabardero, Washington D.C.): It is always compare the 80s D’Yquem. The 90 is bigger and dense where the 86 is more precise and fresher. Very fresh nose of perfectly ripe yellow peach, botrytis, spice spices and honey. Very polished cool palate and lovely precision. Just lovely wine displaying perfect balance. Really enjoyable and ready to go. (6215 views)

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Just a gorgeous wine, still in its youth. Popped and poured in cellar. Medium gold color. Expressive nose of honeysuckle, apricot, pineapple and a grounded tone of vanilla. Medium weight. Finish is long and enduring. Amazing way to end the evening. (5193 views)

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Intensives Gold mit Bernsteinton. Gute Bouquetintensität. Orangenblüten, Mandeln, Honig, Vanille und Röstaromen. Frischer und intensiver Gaumenauftakt. Verführerisch, aber auch kräftig. Die Struktur ist ausgeprägt und fruchtstützend und das macht sich im Abgang klar bemerkbar. Wunderschöne Fruchtintensität im Nachklang. Ein grosser Yquem, mit grossem Potenzial. Man kann beginnen, ihn zu geniessen. (Quelle WeinWisser 2015/02) (1865 views)

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Medium amber in color ,the wine is currently at it's apogee.

An expressive nose of pineapple, apricot and caramel.
Tasting confirmed this luscious mixture, with a hint of spice.

Long, long life ahead. 20+ years, but why wait at age 28?

Superb D'Yquem. (5882 views)

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Medium gold color. Beautiful bouquet of pineapples and ripe apricots. Well balanced with full concentration of flavors yet great acidity. (5365 views)

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confident sweet wine - everything in its place - great (5495 views)

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beautiful , very integrated and all in balance. needs 20 more years to show it's potential. I won't open another for 5-8 years to check. (5195 views)

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Holiday Bordeaux Dinner with Eric - 82, 89 & 90 FGs among others (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): This particular bottle is incredibly fresh. Perfectly ripe yellow fruits, peach, apricot, spicy spices, botrytis, coconut and honey. Fresh palate, exceptional precision, intense yet airy palate that I only get from D’Yquem and some Climens, bright acidity and incredibly long seamless finish. Great showing. (6797 views)

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A great dinner at Capella in DC (Washington DC): Holy moley! This is amazing. Vibrant and powerful with a massive cornucopia of Yquem flavors. There is a nice hint of white pepper. Really a great bottle of Yquem. (6499 views)

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Våt ull, voks, aprikos, honning og tørket frukt på nese. Flott balansert med elegant overganger. Smaken i munn bekfrefter duften. Stor fylde og konsentrasjon med lang fin utgang. Fortsatt noe ung i utrykket. (5477 views)

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What can I say but that d'yquems are in a separate category. It did not have the deep balance of acidity and depth of sweetness that I remember of other vintages but very wonderful nevertheless. At almost 30 years old, just delicious! (6618 views)

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Occasional dinner group; Mature and classical Bordeaux (@ WB): Beautiful and expressive bouquet with a lot of orange peel and apricots. Same on the palate, some butterscotch, beautiful acidity and a great length. (3621 views)

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Bottle of Pain dinner (Ibiza, New Haven, CT): Served with foie gras before we moved into the reds. The aroma is brighter and more floral than I usually expect from Yquem - there's the classic Yquem apricot marmalade, vanilla and honey flavour profile, but also a bright citric and floral topnote to the scent that makes this really lovely to sit and smell. Great balance on the palate, richness and intensity matched by bright acids, though the alcohol (14%) is perceptible as this warms up a little. (9309 views)

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A small gathering at Mark's duck house - Grange, A shot in the dark, Rousseau, Yquem and more. (Marks duck house, Falls Church, Va): Coravined by Paul a few days prior and popped and poured the remaining 1/3. Botrytis dominant nose, ginger candy, dry apricot, vanilla and spicy spices. As usual, intense yet airy palate and bright acidity. Perhaps not as dense as the 88 but beautifully polished. I have not had the pleasure of tasting the 83, 86, 88 and 90 together but based on my experience any one of the four can show the best in any given day. (9359 views)

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Friday Dinner with Friends (St. Betty, IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong): Opened but not decanted for a couple of hours before serving. Deep yellow gold in colour. Nose is a huge initial blast of botrytis - like opening a furnace door. Dried but soft apricots. Burnt sandalwood. Wafts of incense and light whisps of patchouli. Air-dried peaches emerge. Palate is fantastic burnt ochre, burnt caramel, charred peach stones and apricot stones. A dry burnt finish. I love the dryness and burnt quality, which was more abundant than absolute sweetness. Good resonance in the head and very long length. Heady reverberance on the finale. This drank beautifully with a superb couple of souffles and then continued to impress as we just sipped more glasses slowly over end-of-dinner conversation. So nice to share a 75cl bottle between just the 4 of us. Beautiful....but short of silence-creating (you need the 2001 for that). (9003 views)

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This got better as it opened up but was somewhat closed. Tropical fleshy fruit on a think skeletal frame. I was hoping for more (9063 views)

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Château d'Yquem tasting (Stockholm): Appearance: dark golden yellow
Nose: spicy honey, dried apricots, botrytis, saffron, some solvent or glue notes, some cellar and oxidation notes (of a type that can be fund in completely different old wines, such as really old Riesling) that decreased with time.
Palate: very sweet, viscous, spice, dried apricots, botrytis, good acidity, very concentrated, aftertaste with menthol.
Summary: some funky elements in the nose, otherwise spicy and massive style. 95 p?
This bottle had a murky cork, which could explain the funky elements in the nose. The fill level was top shoulder (ts), which usually should not mean too much of a problem for a 27 year old wine. (8091 views)

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Thinest cleanest yquem yet. just clean crisp with no cloying sweetness. a beautiful wine no signs of aging at all. a bit tight on finish. (7058 views)

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It was excellent but has lost a little. A bit syrupy. (6652 views)

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Vertical 67, 75, 86, 88, 90, 96 and 97. Preference as follow: 67, 75, 86, 90, 97, 88, 96. (3163 views)

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Apricots and almonds on the nose. Rich and full but not completely together. Bet very nice. (7205 views)

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My 30th Birthday Tasting; 1/20/2013-1/22/2013 (Martin's House): This was decanted for 5 hours and it was not enough. Still quite closed down, I felt it needed at least a day of decanting. Almond paste, apricot and nice elegance but it was like an iron fist in a velvet glove reluctant to unveil it's full potential. (8128 views)

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Unctuous. Apricot, peach, pineapple and honey. Gerat balance and acidity. Not overly sweet. Persistent in the mouth and on the finish. (7550 views)

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Friday after Thanksgiving (FAT) (Palm Beach Gardens FL): From 6L. Tasting, brief note. Lush and tropical fruit with a wonderful unctuous, oily character. (9859 views)

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Friday after Thanksgiving II (Palm Beach Gardens, FL): From 6L. Some petrol that’s especially surprising in this format. Tropical fruits. Very nice. (8697 views)

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"Eagle's Nest" Dinner (Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong): Decanted for an hour or so before serving. Light copper-gold colour. Nose is WOW!...an Andy Warhol painting BLAM! of confit apricot and confit peach and smoke from a burned taper....and botrytis....so alluring. Palate is medium-bodied great purity of ripe fresh apricot then a follow-through of plums and apricot stones...then a finish of dry somoky gunflint and acacia honey......so beautiful and mesmerising. Endless light and honeyed resonance on the finish...but actually very deep. A lovely deep and pure burnt caramelly quality comes out with extended time in the glass which adds an extra dimension to the final resonance. Stunningly good. I could have scored this higher. (8370 views)

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"Mr. & Mrs. White" Birthday Dinner (Private Room, Caprice Restaurant, Four Seasons Hotel, Two IFC, Hong Kong): Three bottles decanted 3 hours before serving. Colour is late autumnal busnished gold. Nose is…..oh, gosh!...white nougat and botrytis…..smoky caramel….white mushrooms. Palate is silky sweet, smoky caramel, confit Dragon Fruit (that’s a first!), confit apricots, confit smoke! (I think I mean a sandalwood spice and smoke). Really opulent and beautiful concentrated apricot purity of finish…..it is really easy to just drink glass after glass. However, there is a touch of flatness that leaves it short of perfection (compared to the 2001)….and not quite so memorable as when drank on other occasions. But what the hell, there are enough angels dancing on my tongue for me to be blissfully happy. (8221 views)

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Fresh peaches, apricot, chamomile, nutmeg and spices. Beautifully balanced on a knife's edge. Less sweet than other vintages previously tasted. Floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. A real pleasure to taste this. (8008 views)

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Shane's Birthday Dinner (Greg & Sayo's House, Hong Kong): Depp and burnished but brightly gold colour. Nose is an initial Wham! of Botrytis....then fresh almonds, fresh marzipan, whole apricots compote, some smoky element at the back.....burnt creme brulee. More elements of lovely heady light acacia honey come out over time and the burnt elements recede to the back chorus line. Palate is thick, mouthcoating walnut shells, almond nut shells and husks...burnt nutshells, sandalwood, very deep sweet black molasses and damp dark demerera sugar. Wonderful multi-dimensional smoky element on the palate and with excellent balance of acidity to keep it all fresh and nimble on its feet. This is singing! Very deep and resonant cathredal organ notes on the finish. This is really complex and beguiling....it just unfolds and unfolds....really super, but still a work in progress. A very special treat. (7894 views)

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George Kautzman Old Cali Cellar Picks Tasted Blind (The Plumed Horse Restaurant, Saratoga, California): Light medium golden yellow color with 1 millimeter clear meniscus; botrytis, powdered sugar, baked apple nose; rich, creamy textured, silky, luscious yet delicate, powdered sugar, peach syrup palate; long finish 94+ points (3492 views)

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Kracher vs. Yquem (Scala Restaurant, Renaissance Hotel, Wan Chai, Hong Kong): Tasted blind. Deeper but medium bronzed gold colour that totally belies its age. Lovely light spirited nose, like a very mature Islay whisky, that plunges you in beguilingly but less totally then the preceding wine (with turned out to be D'Yquem 2001)....yum! Palate is a front-end of distinct just-steamed Kale-leaf cabbage and fresh white mushrooms.....less sweetness than the preceding 5 wines but then a gorgeous burnt creme caramel cuts in followed by super refreshing citric acidity (more acidity then the preceding 2001) and a lovely elegance (much more elegant than the preceding 1990). The elegance then turns into a resonance that very slowly creeps up on you and just grows and grows. Really beautiful.......and much better than the 1990, though comprehensively outshone by the 2001. This will continue to improve with more time and perhaps has uber-longevity to go 40+ more years. My #3 wine of the night. (9455 views)

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Yquem vs Kracher - came 8th with one first, no second, no last - personal ranking 10th (8143 views)

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half bottle. Bright, extraordinarily youthful, gorgeous deep golden flavours. (5773 views)

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Epic Wine Dinner at Bourbon Steak (Washington DC): A huge, smile-inducing nose of bright flowers, apricot, orange rind, and honey. The palate is astounding -- lush, sweet fruits, but somehow weightless. (9642 views)

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A big nose of apricots with a palate of apricot, pineapple, and burnt honey. There's quite a bit of acidity in the wine as well, making if pair fabulously with foie gras. Not yet fully mature, there are decades of life left. (8455 views)

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Buckwheat honey, noble rot, carmelized green apple, poached pear, touch of orange zest, commanding and fabulous acidity. This is a wine I would just sip on the deck, unadorned by food and watch the sun set. Gilded the lily with this wine, but this great Chateau can do whatever it wants and it can do no wrong. Thank you Chateau d'Yquem for gilding this lily. Transcendent expression of Sauterne. (8542 views)

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Not the biggest and best d'Yquem that I have had, but very well balanced. Notes of citrus, honey and apricots with some botrytis notes. Lush, but not cloying mouthfeel. Nice fruit/acid balance. (8796 views)

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Bordeaux First Growth Trip; 3/7/2012-3/9/2012 (Bordeaux): Drank at Lunch at Cheval Blanc

Dark golden hue. A nose of toffee and honey. Wonderfully deep and complex.
Incredible length

Wonderful stuff (9562 views)

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Bordeaux First Growth Trip; 3/7/2012-3/9/2012 (Bordeaux): Deep gold. Amazing honeyed nose with plenty of botrytis. The acidity just balances the unctuous sweetness. (9969 views)

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An excellent wine. Full flavored, spicy and rich. It has it all with a relatively clean finish. Not as syrupy as some. A wonderful wine. (9011 views)

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Yum... (9439 views)

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This bottle was a great one. Nice nose with burnt sugar, pineapple, spices and apricot. There's also maybe a touch of VA. The richness and sweetness is balanced by the acidity (higher than in my memory for the previous bottles). Long finish.
A great Yquem. (10349 views)

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1986 First Growth Dinner (Sofitel Hotel, Chicago IL): Great nose, apricot, its the best and to have it at the end of the evening was special. Rich, syrupy, glycerin, liquid gold, sugar. Lovely, long lived. Great color! (11631 views)

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Wow every time I get an opportunity to try the golden elixir from d'Yquem I'm amazed at its length - even in poorer vintages. It so delicious to drink - well balanced with a perfect mix of acidity and sweetness. In essence it is the reference for all sweet wines in my book. And after a while in the glass it is so much saffron it's unbelieavable. Great wine, great experience - happy man. (11116 views)

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From a half-bottle. Deteriorated and very soft cork, with signs of past seepage under the capsule. Straw coloured. Botrytis spice on the nose, with notes of lychees and other tropical yellow fruits. Loads on the palate, with excellent concentration, and notes of marmalade and bitter citrus, as well as other yellow stone fruit. Very thick texture, and an obvious Yquem finish that lingers on and on. A little bit of heat right at the end, as well as some slight licorice notes as well. (11407 views)

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the 1986 D'Yquem was a little lighter and smoother than other vintages, a more balanced version. Great nose, apricot and peach, lighter on the vanilla than many. Overall thought, a tremedouse wine! (11049 views)

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WineGavel Pre-Auction Tasting: Latour, Único, Grange, d'Yquem (St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco, California): Medium dark apricot gold color; lovely, rich, botrytis, baked apricot, creme brulee nose; rich, unctuous, tasty, ripe apricot, baked apricot, creme brulee palate with good acidity; long finish (7891 views)

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Light amber color. Apricot dominated aromatics with notes of peach, grilled pineapple and a hint of banana. Richly textured on the palate with the same fruit profile. Great balance of acidity and richness. Medium body with a long finish. (11115 views)

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Figeac vs Las Cases: the big guns (Washington, DC): We are still not worthy! This bottle was served entirely too cold (popped from the icebucket), so we let it warm up in our hands and it benefited the wine as it needed air to begin to open up. While the aromatics weren't as complex as what I hope for from seminal Yquem (granted I don't have the privilege of drinking a lot of Yquem), the mouthfeel is classic. So weightless but so lush and concentrated. Like a ballerina turned heavyweight boxer. With more time and temperature, the nose reveals acacia honey, pineapple, hazelnut oil and such a beautiful pitch of apricot driven fruit. What a capper! (12538 views)

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1986 d’Yquem offers the perfect balance of acidity and sweet, ripe, honeyed tropical fruit. Pineapples, crème brulee, apricots, honey, grilled nuts and vanilla with freshness, sweetness and lift. (12480 views)

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I gave this wine to my brother for his wedding in 1997, and to repay the favor, he brought it to our house to share on Thanksgiving. Wow. What an incredible wine. A great flavor profile. Banana oil, some noble rot, and the perfect balance of sugar and cinnamon. This was an incredible wine that will remain in my mind as one of the very best sauternes I've been lucky enough to enjoy. (12225 views)

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Hermitage dinner - Jaboulet La Chapelle and JL Chave (The Ledbury, London): Dark, spicy, a touch burned, but here the acrid edge gives a lift to the luscious herby palate - gorgeous (12967 views)

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Bordeaux North to South (My house): The cork was very loose and disappeared into the bottle at the first attempt to insert an opener. Signs of seepage. Dark golden, rather evolved color; Some volatile acidity. Burned sugar in a pleasant way, some almond drops (a slightly synthetic smell); Shortish and lacks complexity and refinement. Probably stored in a way (too warm?) that made the cork contract. (12672 views)

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A graceful Yquem, less massive than most, with no flaws, it had the misfortune of being served beside the 1986 Egon Muller Scharzhofberger Beerenauslese, which put it completely in the shade. Such is the way with wine tastings. You are savoring a rare beauty, or several, and then someone pours a 100-pointer and suddenly all else is forgotten. (11830 views)

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Classic Yquem but with more finesse than power. Very concentrated, delicious with a long, long finish. This bottle was wonderful, but not as wonderful as the last. (11955 views)

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"Simple" Midweek Dinner (Chinese New Year Edition) (La Bracceria, Greendale Avenue): What a great way to end the evening. Not the best d'Yquem maybe, but still a very solid Sauternes. Lifted nose, rather subtle, with white flowers, ripe gooseberries, orange peel, sweet mandarin oranges, some honey and a little bubblegummy fruit note. A bit of typical d'Yquem coconut started peeking out towards the end of the glass. I thought the palate was rather better than the nose. Quite a bit of depth, a little richness and just perfect balance, with delicious honeyed tones and clean, lifted stone fruit, tangerine and ripe gooseberry flavours. Finish had really nice length, unfolding slowly in the mouth. Unusually subtle for a d'Yquem I thought, and lacking some of the characteristic dark caramel notes. Elsa loved the fact that this was not as sweet as other d'Yquems, but I thought this perhaps lacked a bit of the layered richness and complexity of the really strong vintages. Otherwise, a gorgeous dessert wine. (12983 views)

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Light amber color. Yellow peach, apricot, and some pineapple on the nose with vanilla, white pepper, and some wood notes. Very focused on the palate; there is still quite a bit of richness, but it is not overly so as in riper years of Yquem. Great acidity and a very long fiinish. (11810 views)

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First nose is Botrytis and remaining there. Very good example for this scent. I used to wonder how botrytis should be...Bingo !!!

The second scent is a typical nose of Yquem but elegant, clean and beautiful. Very soft scent, orange peel, a bit honey, peach. That's special !!!

Medium-bodied, lovely dense, well-rounded, not too sweet, polite, nice acid. It's between the beautiful 1980 and the mild-blowin' 1988.

Aftertaste is slowly expansive, fallin' down into my heart, spread out and set back to robust upward very soft, smooth and elegant, very slowly movement. A nice move !!!

Whenever the aftertaste has its own direction, up and down or down and up. Anyway, this wine is amazing great.

The No.1 best aftertaste for me ( นพกิต แสงสุเรนทร์ ) is Ch. Latour 1961.
The No.2 belongs to Haut-Brion 1990

This d'Yquem 1986 reminds me of Le Plus de Lafleur de Bouard 2000. Similar but not the same.

I finished this bottle within' 5 days : The Botrytis Express !!!

Drink now - 2035...............................96-97/100.................................. (12317 views)

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Lovely wine. Carmel color, a bit metallic at the start, but with a few minutes of air this settled down. Lovely tropical, vanilla, honeyed scents with perfect sweetness (not cloying). We had this at the beginning of our meal with fois gras and again at the end with fruit tart and it was excellent with both. (11691 views)

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Uncompromisingly delicious. Phenomenally concentrated, long, long, long. 98 Perfect ending. (11390 views)

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I have to be honest: I've waited years to try one of these. And I have to say, now I'm wondering if the wine lovers I've spoken with might be right in saying that in good years, it's difficult to tell the difference between top end and well-made second level Sauternes. Immediately recognizable nose of Sauternes, no flaws whatsoever; but where's the revelation? The '00 Guiraud brought more pleasure. Of course, I had a full bottle to work with as well; perhaps I just needed to get further into this bottle. (11217 views)

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Served with foie gras and poached pears, a truly sublime experience. Simply extraordinary. The finish went on for what seemed like minutes. This was the epitome of matching food and wine (11975 views)

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Jen's Birthday (Lake Bluff, IL): Light amber color. Aromatics of apricot, ripe yellow peach, vanilla, thyme, and white pepper. Great body to it with riper fruit than the last bottle I had. Everything is completely balanced. Fantastic acidity. Beautiful. (12101 views)

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Jen's birthday (Inovasi; Lake Bluff, IL): Not as big as I remember; rather, a refined, medium bodied d'Yquem. Bright tropical flavors. Firm and well structure. Youthful. Always a treat. (12213 views)

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Bottle was a bit syrupy sweet and "raisiny" with some smoky after-notes upon first opening, but as it breathed for about an hour and warmed up just a bit from cellar temp, the wine really opened up. It became a cornucopia of fruit flavors: pineapple, apricot, orange, tangerine, and honey with a very long sweet finish that didn't seem syrupy at all. This was an amazing bottle to finish an extraordinary dinner after several hours spent reorganizing a friend's cellar. (11078 views)

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Yquem "great years" tasting (Seinpost (Scheveningen, The Netherlands)): Quite a surprise, I had no idea 1986 belongs to the truly great years of d'Yquem. But it was great even considering its place in the impressive line-up of d'Yquem: 55, 67, 71, 75, 76, 86, 88, 89, 90, 97, 99, 01. Though not just as great as the greatest vintages, in my opinion 01 - 67 - 88, still outstanding. (21472 views)

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1986 Château d'Yquem (Frankrijk, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes) Kleur: Vol goudgeel Aroma / bouquet: Prachtige - in eerste instantie erg subtiele - neus waarbij na enige tijd naast alle rijpe en Botrytistonen ook een prachtige frisheid opvalt. Prachtige details met tonen van kaneel, caramel, honing en rozijntjes. Smaak / Afdronk: Ook in de mond vertoont deze wijn een prachtige balans tussen zoet en fris-zuur. Algemeen / potentieel: Op dit moment absoluut heerlijk, maar zeer zeker een wijn met een enorm ontwikkelingspotentieel. Proeverij van de jaren 67, 71, 75, 76, 86, 88, 89, 90, 97, 99, 01 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 14 + Smaak / Afdronk: 19 + Algemeen / potentieel: 9 = 97/100 (10292 views)

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Another weekend of Excess; 8/21/2009-8/24/2009 (Chicagoland): Fantastic aromatics of baked apricot and yellow peach, grilled pineapple, and honeysuckles. Palate and nose also were a bit like a "leaner styled vanilla creme brulee". Very nice texture with refreshing acidity. A very nice d'Yquem, but not as fat and rich as some of the other great years of the 80s. (10609 views)

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This was the last bottle of the night and it was a good way to end it. Relatively lighter body for a d'Yquem. A bit more glycerin on the nose than I care for, but nice honey, apricot and tangerine on the palate. No darker tones on the finish that I got from the '90 I had recently. Not a complex wine, but still very pleasant. (9496 views)

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1986 Dinner (The Library, Crown Wine Cellars, Hong Kong): Harvest straw gold in colour. Nose of honey - 10 different types of honey all intermingled but also each one seemingly distinct - .....and honeysuckle. Precise acidity on the palate, slightly smoky and not too sweet. Mouthfilling. Great acid and caramel balance on the back end that is counterpointed by an unusual and very attractive light smoky component. A bit short on resonance. This lacks the Wow! factor of the very best years but is still lovely and hard to fault. (10499 views)

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Very very good. Not the religious experience I was expecting but still an excellent sauterne. (9275 views)

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1986 Bordeaux Night @ The Hawksmoor: golden yellow. nose is pineapple and sweet fruits. medium to heavy weight in the mouth. gives off glycerine, quince, apricots and some nice creme brulee. a good bottle of yquem but not great. nice way to end the evening though (10044 views)

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A baby - wait until 2015 at least. (9317 views)

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SF Dinner for Jonathan Dinh's Visit (Lupa Trattoria, San Francisco, California): Light medium apricot orange color; lime, quince and green tangerine nose; tart, orange, orange honey, lime, marmalade, green apple and tart peach palate, young with good acidity; long finish 93+ pts. (4865 views)

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One of the finest wines I've had to date. Incredibly complex, great structure, and in its "youth" very approachable. Opened 1 hour prior to pouring. Beautiful nose of vanilla bean, lemon merenge pie, toasted nuts. Great depth with concentrated fruits and a finish that almost doesn't finish. A drinking window on this might be now through 2050 or more! Outstanding wine- one to be enjoyed with great friends and family. foodandwineblog.com (8304 views)

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I was expecting a lot from this Yquem knowing the vintage and being the 2nd time I had this bottle I still think Lafaurie is the best Sauternes made in '86 and still wonder why this Yquem is not even better than it already is...!
Beautiful golden color. The nose is awesome: pineapple, apricot, coconut, creme brulee, white flowers...I can still smell it...
Full body, med+ sweetness, tremendous length on the apricot. Nice botrytis spicy notes.
My only concern is somehow the "lack" of acidity. Don't get me wrong it is not out of balance at all but a little more acidity would have made this Yquem a killer. (7845 views)

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Mount Eden Retrospective: the 1980s, with winemaker Jeffrey Patterson (The Plumed Horse Restaurant, Saratoga, California): Dark golden color; sugary, honey, coconut and pineapple nose; youthful and solid palate of tart apricot, pineapple, tart peach, with honey, minerality, good acidity and good depth; long finish 95+ pts. (4054 views)

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(at Tribecca Grill – NYC) Holy Cow this was wonderful. Deep golden with a stupendous nose of grapey botrytis, raw honey and just caramelized sugar. Almost weightless for a wine of such gravitas. Clean, laser palate that exploded in the mouth with depth and complexity. Long long long! Reminded me of the balance of the best vintages of Climens. Stunning. (98) (8136 views)

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I decanted this for a few hours. IT was a *beautiful* honey-amber color in the decanter with great viscosity. It was a lovely classic sauternes -- roast banana, pineapple and creme brulee flavors with agood balance and nice carry-through. But it was not as good at its 98 point billing and not worth the $300+ it costs to obtain a bottle. Still, it was very enjoyable. (7588 views)

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As always with Yquem, GREAT nose! Apple and pear prevail across the board. Fantastic balance with a real fine sweetness. (7967 views)

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Dinner at Crown Wine Cellars, Hong Kong: Opened a couple of hours beforehand. Deep alluring golden colour. Gentle nose of lemon zest, orange zest and light marmalade with a very slight touch of spices. Gorgeous on the palate- orange rind, great roundness, refreshing acidity, distinct Seville orange marmalade and touches of burnt creme brulee as it opens up. Good length.We didn't give this too long in the glass and it might have benefitted from opening somewhat earlier. (8391 views)

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Tasted February 15,2008 at Lake Louise Post Hotel Yquem tasting. This bottle may have been corked. The alcohol level was 14% with 97 grams of sugar and a 4.2 acidity. It had an overwhelming bouquet of peaches and the taste was very sweet yet with a very sour aftertaste. (5640 views)

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Deep golden core. Nose shows wine is still brooding. Subtle honey and floral notes. The botrytised notes have a huge presence on both the nose and palate. Luscious and mouthfilling. Good length. Candied citrus on the finish. (7833 views)

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Wonderful. Layers of unfolding sugar, orange, citrus. Delicate. Perfect with chocolate cake. (8031 views)

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Really just special. So multi-layered, after the initial opulent fruit and sweetness begins to disappear another layer of narrower, even slightly tannic, complexity surfaces, then finally the acidity, but over a good 45 seconds of evolution. My first time with yquem, hope the next isn't too long away... (7854 views)

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Jonathan Dinh's Birthday Dinner (Fleur de Lys, San Francisco, CA): Medium orange color; brown sugar, orange, tart orange, caramel and brown sugar palate; medium-plus finish (3782 views)

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The French Laundry...21 Courses, 11 Wines, Infinite Memories; 7/21/2007-7/22/2007 (The French Laundry (Yountville, Napa Valley, California)): The decadence of fresh caviar and Cristal can only be followed by seared foie gras in conjunction with Chateau d'Yquem 1986. This was the setting on the eve of Amy Emery's 40th birthday. Showing a deep gold/rust robe, the Yquem has a moderately intense nose which is dominated by peach, pear and honey aromas. Full-bodied/syrupy on the palate and with nice acidity, the flavors mirror the nose and proceed to a long, smooth finish. My unblinded score was 94, with the comment that the wine should drink nicely for the next 15-20 years. The Yquem/foie gras match was magical! (9268 views)

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Light nose of white flowers, honeysuckle. Palate of honey. Not a thick syrupy Yquem but it was delicious and extremely well balanced. Sexy wine that paired fantastically with foie gras. When you have something this nice, you fell like the King of France back when France was actually powerful! (8298 views)

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Backstreet - No theme (Backstreet Wine Salon, Phoenix): Very different from last time I had the '86. Quite anonymous, but what was there was typical Yquem. (9027 views)

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Y2 day in the Librije, Zwolle, Netherlands. (Yquem tasting) (De Librije, Zwolle, Netherlands.): Light golden. A little backward in the nose after all these nicely developed Yquems. On the palate enormously concentrated pineapple and a lot of other tastes; e.g. almonds, bitterness, marzipan, apples. A very long aftertaste and a delicious wine! (9563 views)

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Yquem Tasting (Robersons Wine, London): Medium gold, mouch younger, quite restrained on the nose, a lush velvet texture though, with a soft attack, lighter citrus fruit, more citrus than soft fruit. Very long and clearly immature. I liked this much more than others. (9378 views)

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Tasted along with the 83 and 89, from MAG. This is my first experience with the 86 and I am glad I had the other bottles for a comparison. This is a honey, flowers and elegntYquem, it is not all power and mouthfeel. It is certainly concentrated, but it was the sparkeling complexity, the tropical fruit including lemons and peaches, and the acidic backbone that makes this wine shine. I did find it slightly greenish. I loved it, I just did not prefer it over the 83 and 89, but I miss the lush caramel texture.

We had the 88 climens, the 90 reiussec and the 53 doisy daene, and this wine (all Yquem's actually) blew the regular sauterne off the table into the middle of next week with the mouthfeels, the weight and the overall persistancy. (8816 views)

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Vieux Telegraphe Dinner with Henri Brunier's daughter Catherine (Backstreet Wine Salon, Phoenix): From magnum. An amazing wine to finish with. What a pleasure to drink. Big rich peach and apricot fruit with a long, long finish. Nearly as good as the 1990 and 2001 we’ve tried in recent months. A huge thank you to Dave Nerland for his generous contribution of this and the Champagne. (10775 views)

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DAWGS Offline - May 5, 2006 (Lola's Restaurant, Dallas, TX): WIML96+,PURPLE94,WA98,~WS83-95

Tasted May 5, 2006 at Lola’s in Dallas, TX. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Sweet Wine glass. Yellow color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of apricots, honeysuckle, crushed almonds and orange marmalade. Think and unctuous on the palate, never ending flavors of apricots, honey, hazelnut and crème. Being an extremely youthful wine I’d expect improvement with more time in bottle. Should drink well for decades. Estimating the current price to be just shy of $300.00 a bottle and knowing we’re talking about d’Yquem here (there is no peer) I’d say from a luxury bottle standpoint the value is highly recommended. (10666 views)

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Cellar party for Bayfront Med Center Foundation. Well, this is almost perfect. Whata could make it perfect? Maybe a touch more acidity but that's just splitting hairs. Love to try this wine in 50 years too, but alas, I won't be around most likely.......so let's drink it now! (10420 views)

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The Mexicans taste 1980s Bordeaux ('88 Haut Brion, '82 Cos, '82 Canon, '82 Leoville Poyferre, '86 Pichon Baron) (Hermosillo, Mexico): Deeply botrityzed, full bodied and thick. Great acidity and sweetness. However, there was a bitter flavor in the finish that reduced my liking of this wine. Not nearly as enjoyable as the 1988 or 1990 (which are stunning dessert wines). (9774 views)

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1986 Bordeaux Horizontal (The Orchard, NYC): Carmel, burnt sugar, smooth. Awesome. Very very long finish.
A (8114 views)

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Beautiful sweet stuff (@ HS): Not many notes, but this is truly a great wine, good butterscotch, acidity and length. Just great! (2619 views)

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Sporting a beautiful hue akin to 24 K Gold! The nose bathed in pineapples, apples, apricots, vanilla, honey and cherry blossoms. Very concentrated, almost dense. The finish was pure silk with an odd chalky sensation. The palate was caressed by a cornucopia of honeyed, tropical fruit. The wine continued improving in the glass. This is too young to drink. Let it rest another 5-10 years before opening. (5942 views)

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Yellow in the glass. Scents of orange peel, and nougat coming out of the glass, along with nuts and honey. Intense, crisp, and fresh with large degrees of botrytis sweetness, and a big voluminous body. Great structure and precision defined by a beem of ripe acid with a honey-sweet long aftertaste, lots of dimensions and complexity and incredible power. This MUST be Yquem. And it is. (9566 views)

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Tasted at the home of Ken Johnson, where the wine was taken from his personal cellar. Bright disc. Medium gold with yellow rim. Very intense nose showing pear, honey, apricot, pineapple and hazelnut. Beautifully syrupy on the palate, with good acidity and similar flavors as for the nose. Long, smooth finish. A beautiful Yquem. (6338 views)

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Little glue in the bouquet which is a little backward at the moment I think. Good bitterness and acidity. Little alcoholic as well. Sounds a bit negative maybe, but do not be mistaken; this is a hell of a wine. Just a little less expressive than I remember from other vintages I have tasted. If I had another bottle I would wait for at least 5 years before opening it. (7300 views)

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Honey and a little citrus on the nose.Rather light bodied,citrussy,balanced palate. (5783 views)

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Opened a 375ml bottle, nose of orange zest, mango, peach juice, marmalade, caramel, creme brulee, and honey, same on the palate, big body, very tasty, mouth filling, elegant, sip and savor Christmas Day, has a long, long finish and fragrant aftertaste aftertaste. I traded my 2 magnums of this Yquem for Bouchard Montrachet, Bouchard Le Corton, Jadot Corton Charlemagne, 2 magnums of 1979 Dunn, and 3.0 liter of 1991 Duckhorn Three Palms plus this half bottle-my cost for the 2 Yquem was $600. (1719 views)

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Nose of peach juice, marmalade, caramel, creme brulee, pineapple, and honey, same on the palate, big body, very tasty, rich, mouth filling, almost elegant, young still will improve, lovely, rich, long finish and wonderful aftertaste. (1711 views)

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Tasted at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in costa Mesa, Ca. My wife, Kathy thought this wine was super until she noticed the price of $200 per bottle, cheap actually. gorgeous, rich sauterne nose, bright yellow color in the glass, hints of honey and yeast and apricot in the mouth with beautiful fruit, long lasting pleasant finish. (4600 views)

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