WineLovers Discussion Group

2001 Château Rieussec
Lovely at first, and a breathtaking wine after being open for a few hours. A powerhouse of ripe tropical fruits and florality drenched in honey, caramel and vanilla. Intensely sweet and rich, yet remarkably light on its feet with fantastic acidity beneath that keeps it perfectly balanced, and a stunningly long, resonant finish.

2001 Château d'Yquem
A remarkable combination of intensity and lightness; a core of ripe apricot, nectarine and pineapple fruit framed by sweeter honeyed, floral and butterscotch flavours. This has a lovely purity of flavour and stunning balance and length, but seems to be holding a lot in reserve and not showing the aromatic complexity or depth that I'd usually expect from Yquem. This is a beautiful wine, but on both occasions I've had it, it hasn't lived up to the hype I've heard for this as one of the greatest Yquems ever made - I love it, and am always grateful to drink it, but can't say I particularly prefer over some of the other vintages of Yquem I've had recently (the 89 and 83 in particular).

Anytime you would like to provide a sample of those three Yquem vintages, I am sure a number of us would be willing to travel to CT to help you end this debate once and for all. I would even be willing to throw in the foi gras!

The '01 Rieussec was my first taste of a truly great Sauternes. I still crave it.

You lead a difficult life laddy!

I'd almost be willing to go back to being a grad student if I could live the way you do Salil. To be able to say that legendary d'Yquem is just okay . . . . although you do have to acknowledge that a wine that will probably live well over 100 years is still a infant that doesn't even know how to express itself at this stage. I had the 1996 last summer, excellent but not outstanding vintage by d'Yquem standards, and it still needs another 10 years.

Ryan M wrote: To be able to say that legendary d'Yquem is just okay . . . . although you do have to acknowledge that a wine that will probably live well over 100 years is still a infant that doesn't even know how to express itself at this stage.

On the track record, I'm certainly open to the idea that it's just not the right time to enjoy that wine - though I hardly said it was 'just okay'.
I think it's a fantastic, beautiful wine - just, for me, not matching the hype in that it doesn't stand above the other Yquems I've enjoyed. Maybe it's the fact that the '83 and '89 have some time behind them right now and show more complexity and aromatic depth, or that they aren't approached with quite the same supernally high expectations, but I've gotten as much pleasure from those wines as I have from the '01. All are tremendous wines that show why Yquem is such a great producer, but for me the 2001 doesn't stand out as a particularly 'oh my god this is REALLY special' vintage.

James - come up to CT, sear some foie gras and I'll make sure we drink some Yquem.