Description
Find this Château d’Yquem 1893 price at Arden Fine Wines.
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Château d’Yquem 1893 price
This 1893 Château d’Yquem represents a highly-coveted vintage from the only Sauternes producer awarded Premier Cru Supérieur status.
1893 was an unusual year.
It was hot and dry from April to October, and a month ahead of a usual year.
The vineyard experienced flowering on the 5th May.
Then the vines underwent véraison (colour change) on the 15th of July.
The team started the harvest on the 28th of August.
They picked grapes with very high sugar levels one by one until the 15th of September.
Soon they reached the cellar’s maximum daily capacity of pressing (75 barrels’ worth of wine).
Sparse showers in October botrytised the rest of the crop.
Three passes yielded an enormous amount of grapes bordering on 30° potential alcohol!
This was a year like no other at Yquem.
It produced 25 hl/ha, and the grapes averaged 22°!
Vintages from this era, like the 1893, still retain layers of delicate flavour and elegance even after 150+ years.
Mature vintages like the 1893 develop complex notes of crème brûlée, caramel, and cinnamon while retaining remarkable freshness.
At this age, you can expect a bouquet of ripe peach, exotic pineapple, and coconut, enriched by oak-derived notes of toasted bread and vanilla.
Traditionally, people pair it with Roquefort cheese, walnut toast, or quail with foie gras.
A short history of Château d’Yquem
Château d’Yquem in Sauternes stands out as the only wine classified as Premier Cru Supérieur in the 1855 classification.
Château d’Yquem almost had English origins.
During the Middle Ages, the King of England, who was also Duke of Aquitaine at the time, owned the estate.
In 1453, Charles VII regained southwest France under the dominion of the French crown and has kept it French ever since.
A century and a half later, in 1593, Jacques Sauvage, a descendant of a local noble family, received feudal tenure over Yquem.
The Gironde department archives, as well as those of the château, indicate that special winegrowing practices and late harvesting already existed at this time.
Furthermore, the château has hosted a vineyard since at least 1711, when Léon de Sauvage d’Yquem fully owned the estate.
Subsequently, in 1785, Françoise-Joséphine de Sauvage d’Yquem married Count Louis-Amédée de Lur-Saluces, and the estate passed to the Lur-Saluces family.
Notably, their descendants managed the property for over 200 years.
In fact, by the eighteenth century, people already recognized its wine as renowned.
After centuries of family ownership, Louis Vuitton-Moët-Hennessy purchased d’Yquem in 2000.
Then, in 2004, Pierre Lurton, MD at Château Cheval Blanc (another LVMH property), assumed control.
On average, Château d’Yquem produces only 65,000 bottles each year.
Moreover, the yield never exceeds 900 litres per hectare, compared to the usual 2,000 to 3,000 litres in Sauternes.
Interestingly, the legend states that just one glass of wine comes from each vine.
