2021 Château d'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux

Released 21 March 2024. According to winemaker Lorenzo Pasquini, one of the 'good if not great vintages'. The 2021 growing season was very tough for viticulture, with frost, hail and mildew. Volume was low they made 50,000 bottles). However, there was no rain in summer, with low temperature and cloud cover, which helped retain acidity a main characteristic of the vintage). Noble rot was homogeneous throughout September, with a long dry spell allowing for unrushed parcel selection. 'Delicacy and power', says Pasquini. Aged in 100% new French oak for 24 months. RS 148 g/l.

Beautiful primary fruit boasting tropical complexity: mango, pineapple. Saltiness, according to the winemaker – and there is definitely savoury contrast in there. The marvel of this wine is its completeness – the stitching is so fine between the sugar, acidity, rich fruit and length. Opens up in the glass with white chocolate, caramel, clotted cream, mixed peel, and five-spice. It is as prestigious as ever and so gratifying to drink right now. 

Drink 2024 - 2044

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.

Drink 2030 - 2050

The 2021 Yquem was tasted in Amsterdam, the first wine poured at a lunch, thereby allowing me a longer period to examine it. Slightly burnished in hue, it has a very attractive bouquet with scents of dried quince, clementine, linseed and subtle candle wax, perhaps more discrete than usual, but certainly fresh and vibrant. The palate is medium-bodied and viscous on the entry, a Yquem with perhaps a lighter chassis than recent vintages, prioritizing poise and purity over horsepower— exactly the right approach in such a challenging season.

It opens wonderfully in the glass, gaining more frangipane and kaki fruit scents, though it seems to have a lighter and more tensile finish than the 2020 or 2019. As such, I suspect that it will be comparatively approachable and, of course, delicious. Readers should note that I will probably re-taste the 2021 in Bordeaux during primeur.

Drink 2030 - 2060

54,000 bottles were made. The pH is 3.79.

The 2021 d'Yquem is composed of 65% Sémillon and 35% Sauvignon Blanc. It has 148 grams per liter of residual sugar, making for a relatively rich style and the sweetest Yquem since 2017. Pale lemon-gold colored, perfumed notes of orange peel, juicy peaches, grapefruit, and honeycomb slowly emerge from the glass, followed by suggestions of jasmine tea, fresh ginger, and lime blossoms. The palate is fantastically satiny, with great tension and loads of spicy sparks complementing the citrusy flavors, finishing with epic length and a zesty lift.

Drink 2026 - 2056