Chateau d'Yquem Masterclass
Amber, Hong Kong
Tasted Saturday, October 29, 2011 by DonalOB with 843 views
Introduction
This event was organised by Watson's, a local wine retailer in Hong Kong. They explained that they bought a local wine merchant some time ago and inherited this collection of old Yquem odd-lots in their cellars. Fortunately, rather than sell them, their management decided to organise this unique tasting event. To be honest, it was hard to believe that they were serious until I walked in the door and saw the collection of bottles pictured. While there is usually a sense of theatricality at these events, the mood this time was one of awe.
Flight 1 (11 Notes)
Closing
Clearly, attending this event was a privilege - the scores represented here are merely relative scores on the day. Like many of you, I would clamber many an obstacle to get access to any one of these bottles, certainly over many more recent 100-point bottles.
1931 Château d'Yquem 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Light amber, slightly cloudy. Oxidised with caramel and marmalade on the nose and palate. Medium sweetness (astonishing on all of them how subdued the sugars are after all this time). Medium acidity.
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1932 Château d'Yquem 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Transparent amber in the glass. This had quite a strong tea flavour on the nose and palate. Apparently, this is quite rare. This was almost over the hill.
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1934 Château d'Yquem 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
This was much darker in the glass but still bright. Orange and candied fruit on the nose. Good acidity and sweetness still - nice balance.
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1935 Château d'Yquem 97 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Amazing - bright gold still! Looks quite young. Fresh citrus fruits with medium-low sweetness and balanced acidity. Some precipitate in the glass. The flavours, although lots of fruits, are actually relatively simple. Extraordinary.
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1936 Château d'Yquem 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Nice botrytis nose. Bright amber. A marmalade nose but not much fruit on the palate. Not great balance - seemed a little acidic.
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1939 Château d'Yquem 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Apparently, this vintage was similar to 2005 as the berries and yields were unusually large. Dark, clear amber in the glass. Slightly oxidised nose - marmalade. Palate good though with various citrus peel flavours. Good balance.
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1940 Château d'Yquem 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Dark, almost brown. Oxidised on the nose and palate. This also had complex tea flavours. Really very interesting, more than the score above would intimate. This was one I kept going back to in the glass, just from curiosity.
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1942 Château d'Yquem 95 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Clear amber. This had some of the tea flavours, albeit less than the others, but also with plenty of fruit still in the bottle. Nice balance.
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1943 Château d'Yquem 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
This was the darkest of them all - full deep brown in colour. Glycerin and unctuous with almost petrol notes. Not much in terms of fruit or flavour interest but very nice mouth-feel.
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1944 Château d'Yquem 97 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Dark but clear amber. Still slightly oily smell and a bit subdued. But wow, this had a great palate. Explodes with fresh primary fruit flavours which seems to last for ever. Quite a surprise.
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1945 Château d'Yquem 100 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
This was the bottle with the special label - this was at the end of the war when the chateau had to begin to market, though agents like Calvet, to new buyers from the States and elsewhere.
This was light, crystal amber with fresh primary fruits on the nose. This looked, smelt and tasted like a young wine. However the complexity on the palate and the unbelievable length was magical. I'm told that this wine still has room to evolve! I don't give a 100 lightly - this must deserve it.
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