Yquem 1998

Sauternes/Barsac, First Growth

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Tasting Notes

Pale gold colored, the 1998 d'Yquem features a flamboyant, rock-star nose of allspice, candied ginger, honeycomb and crème brûlée with a core of preserved lemons, mandarin peel and musk perfume plus a waft of potpourri. Beautifully balanced in the mouth, with seamless freshness lifting the decadent sweetness (134.4 grams per liter of residual sugar), it culminates with fantastically persistent layers of exotic spices.

Score: 95

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2018 - 2050 31 May 2018

Lift and richness and electrified raisins! There's a lot of energy here. Medicine? Sinewy. Not the sweetest.

Score: 18

Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2009 - 2025 11 May 2011

The ’98 d’Yquem has a more extravagant nose than I remember, less mineralite than it displayed in its youth and perhaps a little more alcoholic on the nose. There are touches of pineapple, mango, treacle and custard cremes, becoming peachier with time in the glass. The palate is viscous on the entry and very well balanced with honeycomb, white peach, apricot and wild honey that leads to a powerful, if not elegant finish. The ’98 is a little “unruly” at present.

Score: 94

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2016 - 2030 01 December 2010

The 1998 Chateau Yquem was released several months ago. This estate does not allow tasting from cask (where the wine spends 42 months), and it is not released until five years after the vintage. The 1998 Yquem (95 points) is a great success. Made in an elegant style, it is not a blockbuster such as 1990, 1989, and 1988. It is well-delineated, with wonderfully sweet aromas of creme brulee, pineapples, apricots, and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it is not as sweet as the biggest/richest Yquem vintages, but it is gorgeously pure, precise, and strikingly complex. Already approachable, it should evolve for 30-50 years ... without a doubt.

Score: 95

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2003-2053 01 October 2003