Chateau d'Yquem, Sauternes 1er Grand Cru Superieur AOC, Chateau d'Yquem

About Chateau d`Yquem

It was bought by the family Sauvage d'Yquem, which gave it its name. In 1785 during the reign of Louis XVI, Yquem became the property of the family Lur Saluces, following the marriage of Fran oise Josephine de Sauvage, the Lady d'Yquem with Amedee de Lur Saluces, Colonel dragons. The floors, hot and droughty surface benefits from the accumulation of heat by the rollers of big bass. They also have good water reserves due to the clayey nature of their sub-layers. Many sources also flush and mastery of the soil moisture regime has long motivated the establishment of drainage. They pick only the ripest possible fruit that has been attacked by Botrytis. This is a labor-intensive process that requires multiple passes in the vineyards. In difficult vintages, pickers have made as many as 13 passes, hoping to find berries to the satisfaction of Chateau d Yquem. Once the fruit is sorted, the grapes are pressed 3 times using pneumatic presses for the first two pressings. The final pressing is conducted in a vertical press. The juice from the third press is vinified separately and if it is used, it s blended in after the barrel aging. It can take from 2 to 6 weeks for the alcoholic fermentation to be completed. The vinification takes place in 100% new, French oak barrels. Another change in the winemaking at Yquem is the amount of time the wine spends aging in new oak. The wine is aged in different barrels that are arranged depending on the picking date of each parcel during the harvest.