“Y`Quem” 1er Grand Cru Classe Sauternes 2005

The Château d'Yquem winery is located on the highest mountain of Sauternes and enjoys the best conditions for growing grapes in the entire appellation. The 110-hectare vineyard is home to Sémillon (80%) and Sauvignon Blanc (20%) grapes. 150 professional grape pickers harvest only fully botrytised grapes, and yields are so low that only one glass of wine is produced from each vine. Yquem wine is fermented in oak barrels (one hundred percent new) and aged in barriques for up to 36 months. Intense at a young age, Yquem develops an unusual complexity and exotic richness of taste at full maturity, and the best vintages can be stored for over 50 years. Château d'Yquem is classified as a 1er Cru Classé Supérieur.

Sauvignon Blanc is a white-wine grape and that wines are known for crispy structure, vivid acidity and very aromatic profile. Classic bouquet of Sauvignon Blanc include green apple, gooseberry, white currant and herbla nuances like black currant leaf.

This appellation is home for elite dessert wines that are produced only from grapes with a high natural residual sugar level. Only Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadet and Sauvignon Gris grapes can become a Sauternes wine - they obtain the high natural residual sugar level due to Botrytis cinerea or the so called "noble rot". The production is rather complex - grapes are picked out one by one. Some years harvesting can last up to a month. After that wine is aged in oak barrels up to three years. The result is an exquisite, fresh, juicy and golden dessert wine with white flower, honey and citrus notes. It is exactly the high level of acidity and sweetness that makes these wines perfectly balanced and exclusive samples.

Bordeaux wines are considered to be the most prestige and renowned in the world. The region is mainly known for its dry red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes, and one can almost always find the word Château (French for „castle”) on Bordeaux wine labels. In order to understand the style of wine most desirable for your taste, it is recommended to try different samples from the Left as well as the Right Bank of The Gironde. Both banks differ not only with different soil, but also with the share of specific wines. There are several classifications in Bordeaux but the main one, introduced in 1855, hasn’t changed since and still impacts wine prices nowadays. A few years later, in 1936, an alternative classification system - Crus Bourgeois - was established. Bordeaux is known for a commerce praxis called en primeur - it means that a buyer can purchase wines immediately after harvest and prior to production for a substantially lower price, thus obtaining the opportunity to sell them for a larger profit later in the future. Bordeaux wines can be described as big, complex and with a strong character, but very friendly at the same time so that each and every wine lover could find something tasty and suitable for a great wine night.