YQUEM 2018

A beauty from start to finish, with fresh, racy notes of honeysuckle, quinine and mirabelle plum leading off, followed by richer quince, creamed pear and white nectarine flavors. Everything melds through the finish, picking up macadamia nut and brioche accents to complete the seduction. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Best from 2025 through 2045. 4,166 cases made.

The just-released 2018 Château d'Yquem is a pretty, gracious wine. In 2018 d'Yquem is decidedly airy and ethereal in feel. Light apricot, passion fruit, spice, tangerine oil, orange peel, jasmine and pear accents are layered throughout. Residual sugar is 145 grams per liter, which is not especially evident. I tasted the 2018 over the course of several days and saw how well it responded to aeration. Yquem has a track record for aging brilliantly, but given its mid-weight structure, I would prefer to enjoy the 2018 young, while the flavors remain fresh. It’s a fine effort in a difficult year. Pierre Lurton describes 2018 as a challenging harvest marked by hail in July, higher than average temperatures and lower than average rainfall in the summer. Yields are down by 40%. Botrytis arrived only at the very end of the season. Harvest started on October 17th and wrapped up on the 27th, a narrow window of just ten days, much more compact than the norm here. The 2018 is 85% Sémillon and 15% Sauvignon Blanc aged 20-22 months in 100% new French oak. - Antonio Galloni

An extremely polished and refined d’Yquem with lightly cooked peaches and mangos and an overlay of vanilla and cream with some lemon meringue. Orange peel, too. What is striking is the texture, which is creamy and so fine. The tannins give the wine energy and beauty. The finish is extremely long and impressive. So clean and refined. Not heavy at all, but vivid and clean as crystal. Goes on for minutes. Elegance with stature is a good description. Drinkable now, but better in 2023 and onwards.

The 2018 d'Yquem opens with lime cordial, grapefruit oil, and mandarin peel. With a little coaxing, the fireworks really begin, releasing a whole array of honeysuckle, candied ginger, dried pineapple, lemon pastilles, chalk dust, and sea spray scents, followed by a savory undercurrent of shaved almonds, allspice, and baking bread. The palate is a study in polish and poise, featuring a gorgeously creamy texture and bright, sparkling freshness that frame the densely layered tropical and citrus fruits, finishing with a powerful BANG of profound floral and spice perfume. It is wonderfully sweet, yes, but that—paradoxically for a “sweet wine”—is almost beside the point.