One of the most common questions asked of wine experts is, “How long can this bottle of wine last?” The importance of this consideration cannot be underestimated. Among the greatest disappointments when aging wines is to have overshot the optimum drinking window, only to discover a treasured (and most likely expensive) bottle is as fruitless as a doornail. Ideal drinking windows require a lot of experience to judge. Much of the estimation involves understanding the grape variety, site, style, and winemaking. But it’s easy to underestimate the wine’s stamina by a decade or two when it comes to botrytized sweet wines like Sauternes. And for Château d’Yquem, that misjudgment window can be half a century or more.

Yquem is the only wine I’ve tasted many times and never had to conclude, "This bottle is dead."

The château of Yquem dates as far back as the 1300s. Its iconic name can be traced to the late 1400s when the wealthy Eyquem family was said to have owned the estate for a time. In 1593, Jacques de Sauvage leased the property from the French government and was to remain with this family for nearly two centuries. However, the château didn’t have a vineyard until around 1711, when the Sauvage family purchased the land outright from the government and put down roots. 

Apart from the moment when vines were married to the soil, perhaps the most significant milestone for Yquem occurred in 1785 when the estate was acquired by the Lur Saluces family through the marriage of Françoise-Joséphine de Sauvage d’Yquem to Count Louis Amédée de Lur Saluces. The marriage did not last long. The Count was tragically killed in a horse-riding accident three years after the wedding. His widow, Françoise-Joséphine, assumed the Lur Saluces name and management of the property. From here on, the château would remain within the Lur Saluces family for over 200 years.

In 1996, Bernard Arnault’s LVMH luxury goods empire began purchasing shares of Yquem from the Lur Saluces family. The ensuing partnership was notoriously fraught with bickering and lawsuits, to the extent that in 1999, Arnault purchased a majority stake in Yquem. In 2004, LVMH assumed complete control, positioning Pierre Lurton—already heading up Château Cheval Blanc for Arnault—at the helm.

Under LVMH ownership, the chai was completely restored. In 2009, a tasting room was added. “And we restored the historic château, preserving the 17th-century frescoes that line the main sitting room and other original details,” Pierre Lurton told me.

Y—Yquem’s dry (or drier) wine—was first made in 1959. “Back then, it was a Sauternes with less sugar,” said Lurton. Over time, it morphed into an off-dry style. Before Lurton’s takeover, it was made in an oxidative manner, often with the inclusion of a portion of botrytized fruit and with a notable level of residual sugar. The style changed after Lurton hired Denis Dubourdieu as a consultant in the mid-2000s. The Sauvignon Blanc for this label was harvested earlier, towards the beginning of the Sauternes harvest period, rather than in the middle. A new tank room with stainless steel vats was built to start the fermentation of Y. Subsequently, the wine became purer, fresher, and drier. Although it maintains a dollop of residual sugar, usually around 7 g/L, it now comes across as dry, with the sweetness manifesting in the texture.

LVMH has also made a few subtle branding/marketing changes. “The labels of Yquem and Y were simplified and made cleaner. The new look is closer to the first labels, before the addition of details over the years,” Lurton mentioned. The château has recently been opened to the public, and visits can be scheduled. Nowadays, visitors can even buy wine at the end of the visit at the boutique. A vast flower and herb garden was put next to the château, which is now one of the features the visitors appreciate most.

And what about the heart of Yquem—the vineyards and the winemaking? “Overall, the most important elements that make Yquem and Y what they are, which we inherited from the Lur Saluces family, are still with us,” Lurton commented. “The vines, of course, but very importantly, the families that work the vineyard year-round and pick the grapes with so much care and attention.”

Most recently, Italian-born Lorenzo Pasquini has come on board as technical director for Château d’Yquem, bringing fresh eyes and energy to the scene. Prior to this, Francis Mayeur was the technical director since 1983 and he remains as a consultant.