d'Yquem "Y" Bordeaux Blanc 2023 -75cl

Estate History:
Château d'Yquem in Sauternes is the only Premier Cru Supérieur of 1855, famed for botrytised sweet wine. Roughly 100 hectares of gravel-sand soils; owned by LVMH. The dry white “Y” (Ygrec) has been made only in chosen years since 1959 and is often scarcer than the Sauternes. The 2023 was made under Lorenzo Pasquini and returns to Y’s original equal split of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.

Wine Introduction:
Y 2023 is an AOC Bordeaux Blanc: 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 50% Sémillon, about 5–6 g/L residual sugar. Mid-August rain helped keep acidity. After tank ferment it spent 12 months in 80% ex-Yquem barrels and 20% new oak—enough for a hint of the estate’s wax and depth without leaving the dry, saline register. Jane Anson 97, Decanter 96. Drink about 2025–2040. It is Yquem’s dry white, not a Sauternes.

Tasting Notes:
Nosing: Lemon leaf, sage and verbena, then white peach, crisp pear and wild rose.
Palate: Bright acid, citron, golden kiwi and early-summer melon; oily yet focused.
Finish: Yellow-grapefruit bitters and chalk, with a saline close.