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Yquem 1971
HED2281
75 cl
14%
£1,100.00
Taxes included.
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Château d’Yquem is a Premier Cru Supérieur Classé property in Sauternes, Bordeaux, renowned for producing sweet wines of unparalleled consistency, quality and near limitless capacity to age. The 1971 vintage yielded very little fruit, with just 228 barrels of wine produce, but quality was very high, and this is a wine that has flourished with time in bottle. It is wonderfully complex and lively on the nose, with beautiful interplay between ripe primary stone fruit aromas and mature botrytised notes of citrus peel and dried honey. Immensely concentrated, yet supremely focused and impeccably balanced, this shows now signs of slowing down any time yet.
97
Vinous
Finally, one of my favorite vintages of Sauternes: the ethereal 1971 d’Yquem. Fingers crossed I will be reaching a significant milestone in February, so just in case something untoward happens between now and then, why not open this bottle? It was acquired many moons ago when it sold for a fraction of its present market price, principally because it lies in the shadow of the lauded, and in my contentious opinion inferior, 1967. This vintage has been cruising at a high altitude for a few years now. Gleaning the château records, it was picked over 10 days from October 6, yielding a small vintage of just 228 barrels. It has a dark straw hue with green tints on the rim. The bouquet is stunning and exudes the same energy that I have found on previous examples, with scents of dried honey, Seville orange marmalade and melted candle wax. The delineation is enthralling. The palate has retained that almost Tokaji Aszú–like personality underpinned by wonderful acidity that renders this Yquem so tensile. Delivering orange peel and apricot, lemon curd and crushed stone, it has wonderful lip-smacking salinity and superb length. A brilliant Yquem still full of vim and vigor, one that should give another couple of decades’ drinking pleasure. Neal Martin1st January 2021