Yquem tasting

Château d'Yquem tasting at Hong Kong Wine Vault, with Pierre Lurton.

2011 Y - pipi de chat, oaky, flinty, green apple, kinda ripe.  Acidity high mid-palate, and the wine burns a little going down the back of my throat.  The Sauvignon Blanc clearly dominates here.

2000 Y - wow!  This was so much more complex!  Lots more acetone, plastic, marmalade, apricot, salty plum (話梅) and perhaps even a little marzipan?

Pierre said that Y is actually not a "dry white", as it is picked just before they start picking for Yquem.  The proportion of Sauvignon Blanc here is larger compared to Semillon.

2010 Yquem - a little funky and stinky... changed to a new glass and it got a little better.  Perhaps it's the bottle.  Ripe and pretty sweet.

2007 Yquem - a little more acetone, orange blossom, floral and fragrant.  Sweeter on the palate.  Picked over a period of 40 days.

1995 Yquem - acetone, apricot, really sweet and fragrant now with orange blossom notes.

1986 Yquem - really sweet on the palate, with honey, orange blossom, a little nutty, ripe marmalade notes.  Slightly bitter towards the finish.  A beautiful wine to drink now and the wine of the evening.

1970 Yquem - nutty, marmalade and apricot.  Lovely nose, very open.  But it is after all a weak vintage, so the finish was very short with a weak palate.

Later on we adjourned to a friend's house for some cheese and wines.

Paul-Etienne Saint German Charme - yeasty, pungent, a little sugary.  Feeling a little raw here... not much finesse.

2002 Bertagna Vougeot 1er Cru Clos de la Perrière - lovely after opening up a little, with dried herbs, floral, black fruits.