Castillo de Yquem 2018

Château d'Yquem is located in the Sauternes region and extends over 113 hectares of vineyards planted in soils rich in pebbles and gravel, which makes it warm and dry, ideal for the production of sweet wines. As such, the style of these wines is difficult to describe, offering a myriad of well-balanced and complex flavors that generate even more harmonies over time.

The Wine Advocate: The 2018 d’Yquem opens with notes of lemon cordial, grapefruit oil and tangerine peel. With a little prodding, the fireworks really begin, releasing a vast array of aromas of honeysuckle, candied ginger, dried pineapple, lemon drops, chalk dust and sea spray, followed by a salty base of flaked almonds, allspice and baked bread. The palate is an exercise in refinement and balance, with an incredibly creamy texture and bright, sparkling freshness framing all the dense layers of tropical fruit and citrus, finishing with a powerful BANG of deep floral and spice perfume. It’s wonderfully sweet, yes, but that—paradoxically for a “sweet wine”—is almost irrelevant.