Valentines Day Chateau D'Yquem Wine Tasting back to 1976 Saturday, February 14, 2026 7:30 PM and all the Sauternes in the store on SALE!!
Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized.
- Andre Simon
And I am trying to have at least 8-10 different wines every night with my dinner at the Wine Bar!
Our Chateau D’Yquem tasting has become an annual event on Valentine’s Day! This year we are going all the way back to the 1976 vintage including great vintages like; 1983, 1989, 2011 and more. We have some incredible vintages on the table this evening and the price of admission includes a five-course tasting menu!!
The wines of Sauternes and the neighboring district of Barsac were, up until recently, called the "dinosaurs of Bordeaux." This reference to the majestical creatures that once roamed and ruled the earth is somehow appropriate. These luscious, decadently rich sweet wines are the world's most exotic and at one time were the world's most expensive and most desired. After the Second World War, staggering costs and slackening demand threatened the vignerons with extinction of the prized nectar. Then in the 1980's the pendulum at last begun to swing the other way; and beginning with the great 1983 vintage (the best since 1976 and 1967), there was a renewed interest and demand for this great wine. This has sparked an unfortunate increase in prices, -The Wine Spectator reported in the fall of 1990 that wine merchants and collectors were lining up to pay as much as $230 a bottle for the first release of the 1986 Château d'Yquem. The auction market for these wines also began to heat up - older, prized vintages of Château d'Yquem began to double in price. In 2016 at Hedonism the exclusive Mayfair fine wine merchant, sold a rare 1811 Château d'Yquem (from the famed comet vintage) sold for an astronomical £78,105 in 2016 which is over $100,000 dollars!!
The fame of Sauternes reaches back at least to the time when Thomas Jefferson visited the area in 1785 and ordered a few cases of Château d'Yquem - in Jefferson's day d'Yquem was also the region's non-pareil Château. When the great wines of Bordeaux were classified seventy years later, d'Yquem was so highly regarded that it was accorded the unique status of Grand Premier Cru - a higher classification than the great Médoc clarets like Lafite and Latour etc. It is a little-known fact that the wine Jefferson ordered was quite dry; in fact the first sweet wine from this district was not made until the 1847 harvest at d'Yquem. However, it did not take long for these wines to achieve fame, for in that era sweet wines (Champagne was a sweet beverage then) were very fashionable. D'Yquem's first sweet wine vintage gained tremendous notoriety when the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia paid the then staggering price of 20,000 gold francs for four barrels; ever since it has been one of the most expensive wines of the world.
The process by which these great wines come about is fascinating and one of the examples of how nature can play topsy-turvy tricks and make decay a very beneficial rather than a harmful phenomenon. In the fall, under certain conditions, (misty mornings and sunny afternoons) a mold forms on the skin of the exceedingly ripe grapes that are left on the vines. The mold's technical term is botrytis cinerea; the vignerons refer to it as the "noble mold". It often envelopes a grape and feeds on it by sending spike-like tentacles through the skin. It rapidly shrivels the grapes and leaves their skins mere pulp. The remaining juice is extremely sweet, concentrated, and packed with glycerin. The particular conditions for serious onset of the "noble mold" occur only several times in a decade; and often the mold attacks unevenly, so the vines have to be picked over several times. (Picking is done as many as thirteen times at d'Yquem!) Sometimes growers lose patience and pick before the mold takes hold (for fear of a rain-out); the resulting wine is sweet, but it does not have that concentration that results from the shrinkage of the grapes from the mold. The great difficulty and expense of producing these wines in tandem with a great lack of demand after the Second World War discouraged many proprietors; during the post war period, d'Yquem stood almost alone in maintaining the great standards of the past.
Join us as we experience this great Sauternes back to the 1976 vintage! Chef Toni will be making a special five-course tasting menu to accompany the tasting wines. The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $495 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.
Valentines Day Chateau D'Yquem Wine Tasting
Saturday, February 14, 2026
7:30 PM
1976 Chateau D’Yquem Sauternes
1980 Chateau D’Yquem Sauternes
1983 Chateau D’Yquem Sauternes
1989 Chateau D’Yquem Sauternes
2011 Chateau D’Yquem Sauternes
2013 Chateau D’Yquem Sauternes
2014 Chateau D’Yquem Sauternes
2016 Chateau D’Yquem Sauternes
2018 Chateau D’Yquem Sauternes
2021 Chateau D’Yquem Sauternes
Menu
Gorgonzola, Shopshire Blue and Danish Blue
Foie Gras Torchon with Sauternes/Citrus jelly
Evil Jungle Sea Scallop Stir Fry with Coconut Ginger Curry Sauce
Tuna Poke with Coconut, Honey, Lime and Jalapeno
Crispy Pork Belly with orange marmalade BBQ and Creamy Florida Grits
Coconut Creme Pie with White Chocolate Shavings and Dark Chocolate Sauce
The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $495 + tax per person. To make a reservation call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com. Please let us know when you make your reservation if you have any dietary restrictions or allergies and chef’s Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you.
All the Chateau D’Yquem in the store on SALE!!
1980 Chateau D'Yquem Sauternes
Price: $795.00 Your Price: $699.60 Quantity in Stock: 4
(93 Points) This year is a perfect example of a vintage that was much better for the sweet wines of Barsac and Sauternes than it was for the red wines. Yquem produced its greatest wine since the twin titans of 1975 and 1976. Medium golden, with a big, opulent, honeyed, oaky, flowery, tropical fruit bouquet, this wine is rich and concentrated, has very good acidity, a lot of botrytis, and a stunning finish. It is a great success, and it continues to evolve at a snail's pace. (RP) Wine Advocate, Review Date: 01/1998
1983 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes
Price: $1041.00 Your Price: $916.08 Quantity in Stock: 2
1983 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes Labels Stained
Price: $895.00 Your Price: $787.60 Quantity in Stock: 2
1983 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes 375ml
Price: $350.00 Your Price: $308.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
(98 points) Super-intense and full-throttled, elegant and stylish. Dark amber in color and rich in complexity, this '83 coats your mouth with butterscotch, dried apricot, fig and spice flavors. Made to age for decades. (4/1995) Wine Spectator
1989 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes, France
Price: $996.00 Your Price: $876.48 Quantity in Stock: 1
(97 points) The favorite sweet wine of millionaires, Chateau d'Yquem has, not unexpectedly, turned in a brilliant effort with their newly released 1989. It is a large-scaled, massively rich, unctuously-textured wine that should evolve effortlessly for a half century or more. It does not reveal the compelling finesse and complexity of the 1988 or 1986, but it is a far heavier, richer wine than either of those vintages. It is reminiscent of the 1976, with additional fat and glycerin. The wine is extremely alcoholic and rich, with a huge nose of smoky, honey-covered coconuts and overripe pineapples and apricots. As with most young vintages of Yquem, the wine's structure is barely noticeable. These wines are so highly extracted and rich yet approachable young, it is difficult to believe they will last for 50 or more years. The 1989 is the richest Yquem made in the eighties, and it has an edge in complexity over the powerhouse 1983. It remains to be seen whether this wine will develop the extraordinary aromatic complexity possessed by the promising 1988 and 1986 Yquems. Last tasted 11/97 Bordeaux Book, 3rd Edition Jan 1998
2005 Chateau D'Yquem Sauternes
Price: $630.00 Your Price: $554.40
(97 Points) The pale to medium lemon-gold colored 2005 d'Yquem opens with a provocative, mineral and earth-tinged nose of chalk dust, wet pebbles and dried wild mushrooms over a core of warm apricots, green mango, honeyed toast, ginger and pink grapefruit plus wafts of honeycomb, orange blossoms and saffron. The palate confirms the wine is still a little closed and shut down, offering achingly gorgeous glimpses at the tightly wound, intricate layers structured with a racy acid line and wonderfully creamy texture, finishing incredibly long and perfumed. This decadent flavor bomb still needs a good five to seven years in bottle before it is set to go off, but oh what a spectacle it will give then! Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2006 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes
Price: $600.00 Your Price: $528.00
(98 Points) A monumental bottle of Sauternes despite a moderate level of residual sugar (122 grams per liter), the 2006 d'Yquem displays a singular, distinctive and elegant bouquet with aromas of thyme, sage, curry, baked pineapple and oregano. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, it’s rich and concentrated, with superb acidity on the mid-palate as well as freshness, tension and crystalline texture, concluding on an endless, ethereal finish with a racy bitterness. Simply stunning! (YC) Review Date: 10/2023, Wine Advocate
2010 CHATEAU D'YQUEM SAUTERNES (375ml)
Price: $798.00 Your Price: $702.24
(98 Points) The 2010 Château d’Yquem is an utterly stunning young wine and a very worthy follow-up to the magical wine produced at this estate in 2009. The bouquet is deep, complex and flat out brilliant, as it soars from the glass in a celestial mélange of pineapple, tangerines, a touch of passion fruit, honeycomb, beautifully complex and chalky soil tones, spring flowers and a very gentle touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, suave and utterly seamless, with great mid-palate depth, bright acids and surreal length and grip on the dancing and very intensely flavored finish. The 2010 d’Yquem is not quite as ethereally complex at this stage as the hauntingly beautiful 2009, but in terms of sheer quality, it seems likely to be every bit as profound. Review Date: 03/2011, John Gilman
2011 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes 375 mL
Price: $388.50 Your Price: $341.88 Quantity in Stock: 2
(96 Points) Served from an ex-chateau bottle. Bottled in October 2013, the 2011 Chateau d’Yquem is reticent at first, a little stage fright perhaps. It soon recovers and offers gorgeous scents with fresh white peach, nectarine and fresh apricot that are beautifully defined, although there is a veneer of new oak that will need to be subsumed. The palate is well-balanced with superb structure. There is a light spiciness here with great symmetry, and although there is not the persistency of a top flight Yquem, it has a penetration that is compelling. Tasted March 2014. eRobertParker.com #213 Jun 2014 Reviewer: NEAL MARTIN
2013 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes (375ml)
Price: $388.50 Your Price: $341.88 Quantity in Stock: 2
A very Botrytis wine with a sappy confit. Two ideal phases of concentration which concretize a potential of a very present mushroom this year. Honeyed, saffron and candied orange notes. A very typical wine of the noble rot.
2014 Chateau D'Yquem Sauternes 375 mL
Price: $363.00 Your Price: $319.44 Quantity in Stock: 2
(93 Points) The 2014 d'Yquem is showing very well today, offering a fruity, fresh bouquet that reveals an abundance of peaches, apricots and honey, overlaid by nuances of curry, fennel and spices. Precise and delicate, it’s perfectly balanced and moderately weighted, with bright acids and a racy "liqueur" note, concluding in a tense, fresh, penetrating finish. Residual sugar: 146 grams per liter. Wine Advocate
2016 CHATEAU D'YQUEM SAUTERNES 375 ML
Price: $339.00 Your Price: $298.32
(96 Points) With 135 grams of residual sugar, the 2016 d'Yquem has turned out brilliantly in bottle, exhibiting a precise, harmonic, deep bouquet with aromas of mango, lychee, jasmine, exotic fruits, dry apricot and menthol. It’s moderately weighted and tense with a layered yet concentrated texture and a long, vibrant finish. Racy, charming and attractively complete, it distinguishes itself from its peers with its bright acidity. Wine Advocate
2018 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes
Price: $638.00 Your Price: $561.44
2018 CHATEAU D'YQUEM SAUTERNES 375ML
Price: $363.00 Your Price: $319.44 Quantity in Stock: 2
(97 Points) Average temperatures 2.7°C over average, combined with 20% of the normal rainfall from mid August to the end of July made makes this a naturally rich, low-yielding vintage (40% less than average, not helped by a hail storm in July), with a gloriously gourmet 145g/ha residual sugar, and a pH level of 3.95. As ever with Yquem, patience was the key, taking in the grapes slowly but surely over 17 days harvest that extended well into October. The results in the glass are intense and glossy, full of satin-textured apricot and white peach flavours. There are exotic fruits of pineapple and mango but winemaker Sandrine Garbay has kept a focus on fresher flavours of lime zest and citrus that balance out the natural richness and concentration. Pretty closed right now, but there is power and balance here, an excellent Yquem. (JA) Review Date: 08/2020, Decanter
2020 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes
Price: $555.00 Your Price: $488.40
(94 Points) The 2020 d'Yquem presents a fresh bouquet with aromas of white fruits, orchard fruits and mango, complemented by a hint of spring flowers. It’s perfectly balanced and moderately weighted compared to other vintages, making it a tense, penetrating d’Yquem. Despite the challenges of the growing season and a brief harvest (which began on September 30th and concluded on October 12th), d'Yquem's team managed to produce a mere 40,000 bottles, a modest yield in recent years. Wine Advocate
2021 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes
Price: $630.00 Your Price: $554.40
2021 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes 375 mL
Price: $270.00 Your Price: $237.60 Quantity in Stock: 1
(95 Points) The 2021 d'Yquem exhibits a complex bouquet of rose, exotic fruits and mandarin orange mingled with spring flowers, rose and crème brûlée, followed by a medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless palate that's suave and layered, with a deep core and a long finish that's lent definition by delicate bitterness that offsets the 148 grams per liter residual sugar. This blend of 65% Sémillon and 35% Sauvignon Blanc was matured, as usual, in all new barrels, but the new oak is perfectly integrated and barely noticeable. -Yohan Castaing, Feb 2024 Wine Advocate
Chateau d'Yquem “N*4” Sauternes
Price: $420.00 Sale $369.60
A bright and aromatic non-vintage Sauternes
The property: The reputation of Chateau d’Yquem has been built over the course of the last 400 years with an apotheosis in 1855, when it was elevated to the rank of Premier Cru Classe Superieur in the official classification ordered by the Emperor Napoleon III for the Universal Exhibition of Paris. The only estate to ever have reached this level, Yquem is undeniably one of the most legendary producers of fine wines in the world.
The vineyard: Chateau d'Yquem reigns over around 100 hectares in production, planted with 75% Semillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc. The Ciron, a tributary of the Garonne essential for the production of Sauternes wines, helps create an exceptional microclimate for the vineyards of the property. It is indeed the morning mists generated by this river in autumn, just before the harvest, that lead to the appearance of noble rot, Botrytis Cinerea. In addition to the characteristics of the terroir and climate, the reputation of Chateau d'Yquem can also be attributed to the great know-how and high standards of the estate team. With a drastically limited yield, Chateau d'Yquem produces Sauternes wines whose rarity gives them great prestige.
The case: To produce its namesake Grand Vin, the property carries out an extremely thorough selection of lots, keeping only the most exceptional and the most elegant. The other lots, which are still very high in quality, are discarded. Since 2014, Chateau d'Yquem has been bottling wines made from some of these lots to create a non-vintage Sauternes, which until now was made exclusively for the estate teams. This Sauternes de Chateau d'Yquem is made to be homogeneous and consistent. 6 editions have been produced so far.
Today, Chateau d'Yquem invites you to discover these 6 editions through a unique case dedicated to each one.
The blend Each edition of Sauternes de Chateau d'Yquem is made from a blend of several vintages. Proportions of additional vintages are gradually blended with the vintage constituting the base.
The Sauternes 4 de Chateau’Yquem edition is made up of batches of four vintages from 2011 to 2016, bottled in 2017.
The tasting: The Sauternes de Chateau d’Yquem cuvees are always made from a blend of batches from several vintages. In their youth, they reveal aromas of fresh fruit, particularly citrus, along with the candied notes characteristic of noble rot wines. The texture on the palate confirms this combination of delicious freshness and pure density. As these cuvees age, the aromas of plum and orange jam reveal themselves, while the freshness is maintained thanks to a pleasant, zesty bitterness that balances the sweetness. The more these cuvees age, the more intense these candied, spicy and zesty notes become on the palate.
Winemaker Notes: Y is only made in select vintages. The first vintage of this dry white wine was made in 1959. The berries for Y are picked prior to the harvesting of vines for the Sauternes. The Semillon is picked just prior to developing noble rot for this wine. Y is a rare find, as less than 1,000 cases are produced of this wine a year. Y has a dry steeliness from Sauvignon Blanc coupled with the richly honeyed qualities of Semillon.
2022 CHATEAU D'YQUEM 'Y' YGREC, BORDEAUX
Price: $322.50 Your Price: $274.13 Quantity in Stock: 3
Winemaker Notes: Y is only made in select vintages. The first vintage of this dry white wine was made in 1959. The berries for Y are picked prior to the harvesting of vines for the Sauternes. The Semillon is picked just prior to developing noble rot for this wine. Y is a rare find, as less than 1,000 cases are produced of this wine a year. Y has a dry steeliness from Sauvignon Blanc coupled with the richly honeyed qualities of Semillon.
The rest of the Sauternes and Barsac in the store on SALE!!
2008 Chateau Climens Barsac
Price: $122.75 Your Price: $108.02 Quantity in Stock: 5
2009 Chateau Climens Barsac Sauternes 3 LITER
Price: $1350.00 Sale Price: $995.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2012 Chateau Climens Barsac
Price: $100.00 Your Price: $88.00 Quantity in Stock: 4
2014 Chateau Climens Barsac
Price: $115.00 Your Price: $101.20 Quantity in Stock: 5
1990 Chateau Coutet Sauternes - Barsac
Price: $157.00 Sale Price: $125.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2001 Chateau Coutet Sauternes Barsac (375ml)
Price: $62.00 Sale Price: $49.00 Quantity in Stock: 3
2003 Chateau Coutet Sauternes - Barsac
Price: $99.00 Sale Price: $79.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2005 Chateau d'Arche Sauternes (375ml)
Price: $44.00 Sale Price: $35.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
1998 Chateau Doisy Daene Sauternes
Price: $69.00 Your Price: $60.72 Quantity in Stock: 1
2017 Chateau Doisy-Daene L'Extravagant Sauternes - Barsac
Price: $600.00 Sale Price: $479.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
1988 Chateau de Fargues Sauternes
Price: $188.00 Sale Price: $149.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2002 Chateau de Fargues Sauternes 375ML
Price: $87.00 Your Price: $76.56 Quantity in Stock: 11
1995 Chateau de Rayne Vigneau Sauternes
Price: $195.00 Your Price: $171.60 Quantity in Stock: 1
1990 Chateau Filhot Sauternes
Price: $99.00 Sale Price: $79.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2001 Chateau La Tour Blanche Sauternes
Price: $157.00 Sale Price: $125.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2001 Chateau La Tour Blanche Sauternes (375ml)
Price: $86.00 Sale Price: $69.00 Quantity in Stock: 7
2001 Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey Sauternes (375ml)
Price: $75.00 Sale Price: $59.00 Quantity in Stock: 4
2022 Chateau Laribotte Sauternes (375ML)
Price: $22.50 Your Price: $19.80 Quantity in Stock: 10
1983 Chateau Rieussec Sauternes 375ml
Price: $69.00 Your Price: $60.72 Quantity in Stock: 7
2015 Lions De Suduiraut Sauternes (375ml)
Price: $21.00 Your Price: $18.48 Quantity in Stock: 8
2012 Chateau Suduiraut Lions de Suduiraut Sauternes (375ml)
Price: $24.00 Sale Price: $19.00 Quantity in Stock: 4
2016 Chateau Rieussec Sauternes (375 mL)
Price: $51.00 Your Price: $44.88 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes
Price: $114.00 Your Price: $100.32 Quantity in Stock: 3
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