Chateau D'Yquem Tasting at Wine Watch

Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized.
 - Andre Simon

We are already sold out for the first two events next week!!   We still have a few spaces left for the Pre-Valentines’ Day Champagne and Pinot Noir Tasting here at Wine Watch where we will be tasting close to 50 different wines!!

Our Chateau D’Yquem tasting has become an annual event on Valentine’s Day and this year we are comparing this great Sauternes to the next best thing in Barsac Chateau Climens all the way back to the 1947 vintage including great vintages like 1983 and 2001.  There are only 3 seats left for this event so if you love Sauternes this is an event you don’t want to miss!!

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 1989 at Christie's first West Coast auction, a rare 1811 Château d'Yquem (from the famed comet vintage) sold for an astronomical $18,000!!

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 glycerine.  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.

The name Climens, appeared for the first time on a contract dated 1547, the name in the local dialect meaning "unfertile, poor land". The Roborel family were responsible for expanding the estate, initiating viticulture in the 17th century, and oversaw the production of both white and red wine. In 1855, Monsieur Henri Gounouilhou bought the property, in the year Climens was classified a Premier Cru. It remained the property of the Gounouilhou family until Lucien Lurton of Château Brane-Cantenac bought the estate in 1971, along with Château Doisy-Dubroca. It has been run by his daughter, Bérénice Lurton, since 1992.

Chateau D'Yquem versus Chateau Climens Tasting at Wine Watch
Sunday, February 14th
7pm

1947 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes

(99 points) "`Superb Yquem from a celebrated vintage. Bursts with exotic raspberry-vanilla character in a medium-bodied and super harmonious packed. Deep complex and persistently sweet on the velvety finish. Drink now through 2020." (05/99) Wine Spectator:

1947 Chateau Climens Barsac

The vintages 1929, 1947 and 1949 were described by Alexis Lichine to surpass Château d'Yquem as "lighter, with less vinosity and body, yet miraculously subtle."

1983 Chateau Climens Barsac
Price: $114.00    Sale $100.32
Quantity in Stock: 1

(95 Points)  Beautifully crafted, plump, very long and complex. Medium gold, lush and silky, with lemon, fig, apricot, pear, and a particularly elegant balance of acidity, fruit and wood. Power and finesse in the same package. Drink now through 2000. – Wine Spectator Issue: Jan 31, 1988, Top 100: 1988, Rank: 50, Designation: Cellar Selection

1983 Chateau D'Yquem Sauternes

(96 points)  The 1983 ranks among the most concentrated wines from this property over the last 25 years, with a staggering display of extract and a mind-boggling amount of glycerin. The vintage commenced early for d'Yquem, beginning on September 29th and finishing on November 18th. The 1983 is enormous, with huge, honeyed, pineapple, coconut, and caramel flavors, massive extract, and an unctuous quality barely framed by acidity and new oak. The wine has changed little since bottling. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2050. (RP) (8/1993) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2001 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes

(100 Points) There are 10,000 cases of this perfect sweet white Bordeaux. The 2001 Yquem reveals a hint of green in its light gold color. While somewhat reticent aromatically, with airing, it offers up honeyed tropical fruit, orange marmalade, pineapple, sweet creme brulee, and buttered nut-like scents. In the mouth, it is full-bodied with gorgeously refreshing acidity as well as massive concentration and unctuosity. Everything is uplifted and given laser-like focus by refreshing acidity. This large-scaled, youthful Yquem appears set to take its place among the most legendary vintages of the past, and will age effortlessly for 75+ years. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2100+. Wine Advocate # 158, Apr 2005

2001 Chateau Climens Barsac 
Price: $400          Sale $352
Quantity in Stock: 1

(100 Points) A prodigious offering, the 2001 Climens’ light medium bold color with a greenish hue is followed by ethereal aromas of tropical fruits (primarily pineapple), honeysuckle, and flowers. It is a medium-bodied wine of monumental richness, extraordinary precision/delineation, great purity, and moderate sweetness. The finish seemingly lasts forever. This monumental effort is the stuff of legends. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2040+.

2008 Chateau D'Yquem Sauternes

(96 Points) The 2008 Yquem, now in bottle, has a nuanced bouquet, with scents of clear honey, lime flower, vanilla and orange blossom that is beautifully defined. The palate is very harmonious on the entry, with a fine thread of acidity, tense and full of energy like the 2010 tasted alongside, with notes of white peach, citrus lemon, clear honey and a hint of quince. Long and persistent on the finish, this is a very fine Yquem that might be over-looked between the 2007 and 2009, but is a superb Sauternes in its own right. Drink 2014-2050. - The Wine Advocate, Neal Martin

2008 Chateau Climens Barsac

(93 Points) Tasted single blind against its peers. This has a very well -defined nose of dried pineapple, quince and vanilla pod that unfolds seductively in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a mellifluous texture, although there remains some oak that needs to be subsumed into the wine. It displays fine definition towards the finish with impressive length. Always a little curmudgeonly in its youth, this Climens deserves a decade in bottle. Tasted January 2012.  Wine Advocate #199, Feb 2012

Menu

Jalapeño Sea Salt Popcorn

Foie Gras Sushi with grilled Pineapple and mango

Bacon wrapped prawns with voodoo coconut curry

Apricot jam glazed pork loin

Chocolate Creme Brulee