Château d'Yquem, 1er Grand Cru Classé, Sauternes, 2022
Unctuous and decadent, with hints of bitter orange, saffron, lemon pith and bruised apple, leading to a mid-palate packed with pure quince, pineapple, orange blossom, honey, caramel, and marmalade. Spice notes are pronounced on the long voluptuous finish with cinnamon, star anise and sea salt adding bite and acidity to balance the sweetness. Already displaying huge aromatic complexity, this is one of the finest expressions we have tasted, a wine that can be savoured in its youth and has the potential to age for many many decades… 160g/L residual sugar (the highest figure since 1945), 3.9pH.
critic reviews
The 2022 Yquem has a much more extravagant and complex bouquet, with ample botrytis and hints of pineapple, fresh fig and quince coming through with time. The palate is well balanced, with a viscous entry and fine acidity, rich but tensile, with marmalade and quince towards the harmonious finish. Very promising. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
The first time I have tasted this vintage, as it was only released earlier this year, and it is a wonderful wine, generous, luscious, but absolutely balanced despite the heat of the vintage, with a twist of grated citrus, pineapple, white tea, bitter almond and candied orange peel. Layers of marmalade, white truffle, salted tarte tartin, a beautiful push and pull of opulence and acidity that is so essential in a vintage as concentrated as this. Will power through the years, no question. 160g/l residual sugar. Lorenzo Pasquini estate director.
A blend of 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc, the 2022 d'Yquem is a strong candidate for the title of wine of the vintage. Exhibiting a remarkably delicate, complex and energetic bouquet of rose, confit citrus, exotic fruits and orange marmalade, it's full-bodied, dense and deep with a pristine balance enhanced by a fleshy core of fruit, bright acids and beautiful, gastronomic bitterness and dry extracts that segue to a long, ethereal, delicately perfumed and refined finish. Lorenzo Pasquini and his team have perfectly understood the vintage by privileging the third tries, fully exposed to Botrytis cinerea, in the blend, bringing density and precision along with an energetic and splendidly balanced interplay of bitterness and sweetness. Residual sugar levels reach 160 grams per liter, marking it as the second-highest since the iconic 1945 vintage.