Château d'YQUEM
1er grand cru classé

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The 2021 vintage in the press:

La Revue du Vin de France (Guide 2025): 97/100 “An ample and coherent touch, with sinuous acidity, present without ever being dominant. It's not an imposing Yquem, but its immediately classic elegance and early availability are remarkable.”

Hachette (Guide 2025) : Coup de coeur ♥ « Ample and energetic from the attack, the material takes its ease in a voluptuous mouth, unctuous and caressing, more floral in its expression, supported in filigree by a hell of a freshness that stretches and illuminates the fruit in a saline and bittersweet finish. An emotional jury described it as a monument of elegance and purity. Great art. »

J-M Quarin (February 2024): 97/100 “Delicate vanilla touch when the glass is shaken. Magic on the palate! This is a white wine before being a sweet white wine. Ultra-noble texture. Distinguished aromas. Beautiful relief from the middle to the finish. Great length. Unbeatable!”

Vinous (N. Martin - January 2024): 96/100 “Slightly burnished in hue, it has a very attractive bouquet with scents of dried quince, clementine, linseed and subtle candle wax, perhaps more discrete than usual, but certainly fresh and vibrant. The palate is medium-bodied and viscous on the entry, a Yquem with perhaps a lighter chassis challenging season. It opens wonderfully in the glass, gaining more frangipane and kaki fruit scents, though it seems to have a lighter and more tensile finish than the 2020 or 2019. As such, I suspect that it will be comparatively approachable and, of course, delicious.”

See the data sheet

The 2021 vintage in the press:

La Revue du Vin de France (Guide 2025): 97/100 “An ample and coherent touch, with sinuous acidity, present without ever being dominant. It's not an imposing Yquem, but its immediately classic elegance and early availability are remarkable.”

Hachette (Guide 2025): Coup de coeur ♥ “Ample and energetic from the attack, the material takes its ease in a voluptuous mouth, unctuous and caressing, more floral in its expression, supported in filigree by a hell of a freshness that stretches and illuminates the fruit in a saline and bittersweet finish. An emotional jury described it as a monument of elegance and purity. Great art."

J-M Quarin (February 2024): 97/100 “Delicate vanilla touch when the glass is shaken. Magic on the palate! This is a white wine before being a sweet white wine. Ultra-noble texture. Distinguished aromas. Beautiful relief from the middle to the finish. Great length. Unbeatable! "

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The 2020 vintage in the press:

La Revue du Vin de France (Guide 2025): 97/100 “Magnificent length and lush glycerol, in a less botrytized vein but already capable of giving great emotions.”

Coup de ♥ du Guide Hachette 2024 “a particularly expressive, very floral and fruity (exotic fruit, citrus, peach, apricot, fresh almond...)”

La Revue du Vin de France (December 2023): 98/100 “Its sumptuous perfume evokes tangerine. It coats the palate with a sensation of tangy candy. Suave yet weightless, it is balanced by a melted breeding that carries it through to length.”

Bettane et Desseauve (Guide 2024): 97/100

Vinous (N.Martin - January 2024): 94+/100 “The 2020 Yquem has a slightly more Germanic nose than its peers, with a touch of petrol behind the veneer of dried honey, apricot and saffron. The palate is well balanced, with juste a little oak to be subsumed. It's very poised. Well-judged acidity drives through the harmonious finish. Give th three or four years in bottle for that wood to be assimilated, and you will have a sophisticated Sauternes on your hands ( and a score in line with the one tasted at the estate in 2023).”

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The 2016 vintage in the press:

J-M Quarin (September 2023): 98/100 “Pale color, with green highlights. Intense, fine, subtle, noble and complex nose. Immediately refined texture and feel on the palate. Full-bodied, airy, nuanced yet profound. Very long, slightly tannic finish. It's wonderful."

Hachette (Guide 2021): 100/100 “The 2016 has left behind the viennoiserie notes of its youth to refocus on tastes of citron and tangerine. Its power settles confidently into pure fruit, nourished by a fleshy liqueur, which lends masterly balance to this vintage, which is also at the top.”

The 2014 vintage in the press:

Vinous (N. Martin - February 2024): 95+/100 “The 2014 Yquem has a potent nose with yellow plum, tangerine, peach and honey, exuberant and with plenty of botrytis. There is a real presence in this wine. The palate is well balanced with an unctuous entry and a keen thread of acidity, effervescent with blood orange, white peaches and pineapple toward the finish. Very persistent in the mouth, this is clearly an excellent Sauternes that consantly improves in the glass.”

Hachette (Guide 2019): 100/100 “The 2014 distinguished itself with legendary depth and freshness.”

The 2013 vintage in the press:

Hachette (Guide 2018): 98/100 “With the 2013 we also find a superb wine, starting with a perfume of orange marmalade and a generous note of fresh pineapple.”

The 2011 vintage in the press:

Hachette (Guide 2016): 99/100 “The 2011 is also an absolute model of the refinement this vintage can achieve.”

The 2011 vintage in the press:

Hachette (Guide 2016): 99/100 “The 2011 is also an absolute model of the refinement this vintage can achieve.”

The 2010 vintage in the press:

La Revue du Vin de France (December 2023): 99/100 “Marked by a hint of evolution, the 2010 is between wax and honey. A real ball of fruit, this late vintage is still in the thickness of its liquor despite a long, fine muscle. To be forgotten in the cellar”.

Hachette (Guide 2013): 97/100 “The 2010 perfectly illustrates the classicism of the vintage.”

The 2010 vintage in the press:

Hachette (Guide 2013): 97/100 “The 2010 perfectly illustrates the classicism of the vintage.”

The 2020 vintage in the press:

Hachette (Guide 2024): Coup de ♥ “imposing volume, a rich, dense tannic framework but incomparable, crystalline finesse.”

Vinous (N. Martin - January 2024): 98/100 “The 2020 Cheval Blanc has such a pretty, floral bouquet that you will instantly be smitten: very well defined and extremely pure with an almost Burgundian allure. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins and a cashmere texture. There's not an edge to be found on the persistent and graceful finish. Captivating. Mesmerizing. How many more adjectives do you need?”

La Revue du Vin de France (September 2023): 98/100 “Admirably restrained, the graphite nose, reminiscent of pencil lead, immediately segues into an aromatic freshness more reminiscent of Cabernet Franc. A magnificent velvety texture envelops the palate from the outset, and the core and finish link up with plenitude in a whole gracefully stretched by dynamic tannins of immense delicacy.”

The 2015 vintage in the press:

J-M Quarin (February 2020): 99/100 “Nuances of ripe fruit combined with the delicacy of violets. Refined from the entry on the palate, juicy in the middle, particularly aromatic and complex, with a lot of brightness in the flavor, the wine evolves long, juicy, on a meticulous tannic texture and a very noble flavor. It's unputdownable."

The 2014 vintage in the press:

Vinous (N. Martin - February 2024): 95/100 “The Cheval Blanc 2014 has an almost Left Bank-inspired bouquet, scents of tarry black fruits, tobacco and undergrowth that unfold in the glass, but not as ‘immediate’ as the Canon. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, fleshy, very well balanced and nuanced with one of the few finishes I'd describe as “precise” that invite you back for the next sip. Excellent.”

The 2012 vintage in the press:

J-M Quarin (November 2019): 93/100 “Very aromatic, fine, fruity nose that needs airing. Creamy nuances. Soft on the attack, melting on development, juicy, the wine evolves savory, very pleasant, on a finish slightly marked by the presence of tannin. Normal length."