Tasting and Pairing Notes for Château d'Yquem 1998

Château d'Yquem

Tasting

Color

Château d'Yquem 1998 displays a deep, intense golden hue with amber highlights, a color that has deepened over the years while retaining a bright, inviting shine. Dense tears cling to the glass, reflecting the wine's rich sugar and alcohol content.

Nose

The nose opens with notes of crème brûlée, honey, and candied citrus zest, layered with toasted coconut, vanilla, and sweet spices such as ginger and nutmeg. Dried flowers, apricot, and a touch of saffron add further complexity, while hints of caramel and toasted hazelnut emerge with time in the glass.

Palate

The palate is silky, creamy, and generously textured, carried by a pronounced sweetness that remains balanced by lively acidity. Flavors of ripe apricot, honey, candied orange, and toasted hazelnut unfold with real persistence, finishing on a subtle bitter note reminiscent of orange peel that lends freshness and lift. The finish is remarkably long, echoing spice, honey, and dried fruit.

Food and wine pairings

Château d'Yquem 1998 pairs beautifully with blue cheeses, such as Roquefort or Stilton, where the wine's sweetness and acidity create a classic, satisfying contrast with the cheese's salty, pungent character.

Serving and cellaring

Château d'Yquem 1998 is best served chilled, between 46°F and 50°F. This vintage is approachable today, offering generous pleasure without requiring decades of further aging, though it still has the structure to evolve gracefully in the years ahead.

Other characteristics

Château d'Yquem 1998 is a sweet, botrytized dessert wine with approximately 134.4 grams per liter of residual sugar and an alcohol content of around 13.5%, reflecting the exceptional concentration achieved through noble rot.

A Sauternes icon shaped by patient selection and noble rot

The Estate

Château d'Yquem traces its origins to 1593, when Jacques de Sauvage acquired tenure rights over the property from King Henri IV, launching more than four centuries of winemaking under the Sauvage and Lur-Saluces families. Located in the commune of Sauternes, in Bordeaux, the estate stands as the only Premier Cru Supérieur of the 1855 classification. Since 1999, Château d'Yquem has been owned by LVMH, with Pierre Lurton as chairman and Lorenzo Pasquini serving as estate manager and winemaker.

The Vineyard

The vineyard sits at the highest point of the Sauternes appellation, spread across roughly 100 hectares in production on gravelly, clay-based soils resting on a limestone subsoil. This elevated position benefits from a unique microclimate shaped by the meeting of the Ciron and Garonne rivers, which generates morning mists ideal for the onset of noble rot, followed by sunny, breezy afternoons that prevent excessive humidity. The vines, averaging around thirty years of age, are tended plot by plot, with harvesting carried out through multiple successive passes to select only the most perfectly botrytized grapes.

The Vintage

The 1998 growing season was marked by warm, relatively dry conditions and an early budbreak. Rain in early September triggered the onset of botrytis, followed by drier east winds that allowed the fungus to develop favorably. Showers later interrupted the harvest for about a month, prompting a second wave of picking as generous as the first, resulting in a vintage shaped by two distinct phases of botrytization. Overall, 1998 is regarded as an excellent vintage for Château d'Yquem.

Winemaking and aging

The botrytized grapes were pressed several times to extract the richest, most concentrated juice, then fermented in new French oak barrels, a process that took several weeks given the high sugar levels. Château d'Yquem 1998 was aged for 36 months in new French oak barrels, a notably extended maturation that helped integrate the wood while allowing the wine's structure to settle before bottling.

Grape Varieties

Château d'Yquem 1998 is crafted from a blend dominated by sémillon, complemented by sauvignon blanc, the traditional pairing that defines the great sweet wines of the estate.