1987 Château d’Yquem, Sauternes

🍇 80% Sémillon – 20% Sauvignon Blanc (typical estate blend)
📅 Vintage: 1987
📍 Bordeaux – Sauternes
⭐ Wine Advocate WA: 91 | Wine Spectator WS: 93 | Jancis Robinson JR: 18/20
📦 75 cl
⏳ Maturity: Now to 2040+

📅 The Vintage – 1987: A Winemaker’s Vintage

1987 was marked by a cool, humid spring and an unsettled summer that demanded vigilance in the vineyard. While not a year of excess botrytis, a golden window of noble rot arrived in late October, allowing d'Yquem’s expert team to execute meticulous tries (harvest passes) and craft a wine of refinement, tension, and slow-building complexity.

It’s a vintage defined by precision over power, marked by luminous acidity and purity of fruit rather than sheer viscosity—a quality that has allowed it to age with grace.

👃 Tasting Notes

👁 Appearance:

Lustrous deep gold with amber glints—clear and radiant, with slow, honeyed legs that veil the glass.

👃 Nose:

A sophisticated bouquet unfurls with candied orange peel, dried apricot, saffron, and white flowers. Beneath that, hints of gingerbread, chamomile tea, toasted almond, and beeswax reveal the slow layering of age. Ethereal and endlessly intriguing.

👄 Palate:

Silky and medium-weight for Yquem, yet deeply nuanced. A bright thread of acidity lends tension to notes of quince, crème brûlée, preserved lemon, and marzipan. The sweetness is opulent but finely tuned, tapering into a long, citrus-zest finish kissed with saline minerality. The aftertaste—measured, elegant, and haunting.

🍽️ Pairing:

Perfect with duck liver terrine, Roquefort, or Moroccan-spiced lamb tagine. For dessert, pair with tarte Tatin or almond financier. Or simply—sip it alone and let it tell its story.

🏰 The Estate – Château d’Yquem

Perched atop the highest hill in Sauternes, Château d’Yquem has been crafting the world’s most sought-after sweet wines for over 400 years. Classified as the sole Premier Cru Supérieur in the 1855 Bordeaux classification, Yquem is synonymous with luxury and longevity.

Its ancient vines, meticulously pruned and harvested by hand over multiple passes, yield wines of extraordinary complexity and age-worthiness. Only the finest vintages are released under the château’s name; lesser years are not bottled at all—a rare testament to perfectionism.

The estate’s secret lies in its gravel and clay soils, south-facing slopes, and unmatched selectivity during harvest—up to 10 or more tries are made to capture noble rot at its peak. The result is not just wine, but liquid time.

🏆 Awards & Critics

• Robert Parker – Wine Advocate (WA): 91/100
  “An underrated Yquem—fine structure, fresh acidity, and aging beautifully. A quiet classic.”

• Wine Spectator (WS): 93/100
  “Elegant and complex. Layers of tropical fruit, spice, and honey—vibrant and persistent.”

• Jancis Robinson (JR): 18/20
  “Golden, lifted, and superbly balanced. A vintage for purists.”

• Stephen Brook (Decanter):
  “Silken and mineral—less lush than 1989, but with grace and incredible poise.”

🖋️ Final Impressions – Signature & Emotion

The 1987 Château d’Yquem is a bottle for those who understand the art of restraint. Less about richness, more about radiance, it offers a rare, cerebral pleasure—an experience that invites you to lean in, not be overwhelmed. Now entering a glorious plateau of drinkability, it promises to hold its voice for decades, whispering ever more layers of saffron, citrus, and soul.

Best served at 10–12°C, in fine glassware, with slow sips and finer company.