CHÂTEAU YQUEM

Superbly exotic, wonderfully complete and seemingly very smooth, pure and buoyant already, this is an immensely pleasing wine, and it is surprisingly floral and open. There is fabulous length here and yet the flavour and delivery are controlled, rolling deliberately across the palate slowly, steadily, metronomically. It is akin to a bracing Atlantic wave rising in the ocean, breaking, cascading and then gliding up a broad beach in slow motion, whereupon the fruit notes subside into your tastes buds as the water does into the sand, only to be repeated. There is a slightly exotic edge here, too, with lime blossom and hints of lemongrass, but the creaminess and florality underneath are familiar and welcoming. This is not a muscular wine but a soothing style, and it is also not overly closed or tense either. While there is an undercurrent of acidity which nips at the heels of the flavour, it serves to refresh the palate, and while I very much enjoyed sipping away at my glass today, there is undoubtedly a forty or fifty-year life ahead, if you have the patience. In terms of the colour, which is pale with discreet green tinges (which match the citrus theme on the nose and palate), Sandrine explained that this was a unique Yquem in terms of its blend. My tasting notes reflect this – I have never used some of these descriptors or mental images before. Surely Yquem is supposed to be more imposing, structured, orange-peel-imbued and oleaginous? Not in 2019. There is a huge percentage of Sauvignon in this vintage, as you will see above, and the previous highest portion in a bottle of Yquem was 30%, so this record has been obliterated in 2019. As one might expect, Sandrine elaborated that she and her team do the blending blind, and the finest balanced combination of these two grapes just happened to include 45% Sauvignon Blanc. Of course, if you re-read the vintage conditions, you will see that Sauvignon was employed to add freshness and acidity to blend to balance the peculiar depth of flavour found in the Semillon in 2019 – directly a result of the warm summer. It is strange to think that Sauvignon Blanc does some of the ‘heavy-lifting’ in 2019! She posited that where once noble rot affected the Sauvignon a little too early in the autumn, climate change has meant that it is riper when the noble rot joins forces with the bunches and it is a particularly serendipitous occurrence in 2019. It has meant that the wine might be lighter-framed and curiously weightless on the palate, it lacks nothing in intrigue, sheer pleasure and prodigious length. As an aside, 2020 is apparently a more predictable blend, with some parcels being affected by passerillage (this is a phenomenon where the grapes become air-dried and slightly shrivelled, and therefore more sugar-concentrated), as opposed to being noble rot affected. So in 2020, the blend is more classical and with passerillage bringing in the life-giving acidity instead of utilising a more significant percentage of Sauvignon Blanc. All of this information was fascinating, and it goes to show that every single vintage of this magnificent wine tells a different story. For the record, I think that 2019 is a particularly magical wine and, as you will see below, more people than ever are likely to have the opportunity to taste it. 19+/20 (Drink now and for a further four decades) Drinking range: 2022 - 2060 Rating: 19+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Feb 2022)