Golden wonder: is the star of Sauternes losing its lustre?
There are sweet wines, and then there is Château d’Yquem. But, in a changing fine wine landscape, is the star of Sauternes losing its lustre? Arabella Mileham reports. The post Golden wonder: is the star of Sauternes losing its lustre? appeared first on The Drinks Business.
There are sweet wines, and then there is Château d’Yquem. But, in a changing fine wine landscape, is the star of Sauternes losing its lustre? Arabella Mileham reports.
Chanel... Rolex... Dior. There are some names that are simply iconic – and Château d’Yquem is undoubtedly one of them. Beloved by Thomas Jefferson and said to be as fresh as ever after 100 years in bottle, few wines have captured the imagination in quite the same way.
It even has a day named after it – D’Yquem Day falls on the third Thursday in March, when the previous vintage can be snapped up by its (well-heeled) fans.
But, in an age of declining consumption of wine – particularly of sweet wines – what is demand for this landmark wine like? Has its long history and glowing reputation caused it to rest on its laurels, or can d’Yquem maintain its status in today’s market?
The history of this famous estate in Sauternes is a well-trodden path. Once owned by the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Plantagenet Kings of England, it was reclaimed by the French crown in 1453, with feudal tenure of d’Yquem given to a local nobleman, Jacques Sauvage, in 1593. Although the family didn’t take full ownership for more than 100 years, it was during this time that the château itself was built, and the current vineyards were established, plot by plot.
The estate flourished, surviving the destruction of the French Revolution thanks to the brilliant management of Françoise Joséphine de Sauvage, the ‘lady of d’Yquem’, whose marriage brought the estate into the Lur Saluces family (where it remained for over 200 years). Widowed only three years after her marriage, it was Françoise Joséphine who built a new wine cellar and perfected the idea of picking the grapes in several passes, steering the business and building the estate’s stratospheric reputation. Under her grandson, d’Yquem became the only Sauternes estate to be designated Premier Cru Supérieur in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
But, history aside, how influential and important does this iconic producer remain today?
As Robbie Stevens, head of broking at Liv-ex, explains, a brand’s position reflects not only the number of transactions in a year, but also its year-on- year price performance, and the amount traded by volume and value. Given the longevity of d’Yquem vintages – and that it tends to be less volatile than many other Bordeaux brands – there are a high number of wines traded.
“D’Yquem carried a higher price than any other Sauternes and, barring a few German wines and Tokajis, it is at the high price point, so it has a lot of things going for it,” Stevens points out.
It also dominates the category. Bordeaux Index, for example, saw d’Yquem’s activity account for nearly 50% of white Bordeaux and over 90% of Sauternes/Barsac sales by value last year. Similarly, at French-based online auction house iDealwine, d’Yquem holds a unique position in Bordeaux sweet wine auctions, amounting to 15% of bottles sold (by volume) while representing 56% of 2024 auction sales, with an average price of €374– three times higher than the category’s observed average (€99). A bottle of d’Yquem 1945 was sold for €4,250, while the oldest bottled sold by iDealwine in 2024 dated back to 1914.
That being said, 2024 was not the most auspicious year for fine wine in general, and d’Yquem has not been immune. Matthew O’Connell CEO, LiveTrade, and head of investment at Bordeaux Index, explains that the company’s sales of d’Yquem fell 25% in 2024 compared with 2023, down 30% against the five-year average, something that reflects “a major contraction from the buoyant market of 2021 and 2022”.
Similarly, Liv-ex’s Sauternes 50 index declined 6% in 2024, and fell 8% over a two-year period – although the longer five-year timespan showed a rise of 5%. “There is some stability there – people buy it and hold it, and the supply and demand only goes down when it reaches maturity and starts to be drunk,” Stevens explains.
Prime vintages such as the 100-point trio of 2001, 2007 and 2009 represented the lion’s share of sales at Bordeaux Index, O’Connell says, collectively contributing 40% of total transactions, even though the price performance for those leading vintages has been “decidedly lacklustre”, with values for 2001 (described by Hedonism Wines’ website as “one of the greatest Sauternes ever made”) falling by 15% over the past two years, with the 2007 vintage declining by 5% over the same timespan.
As a result, prices for these key vintages are now at levels comparable to five years ago, O’Connell says, having missed much of the broader market upswing seen between 2020 and 2022.
But this is not peculiar to d’Yquem. Although the “near ubiquity” of d’Yquem limits the ability to draw meaningful conclusions about other Sauternes châteaux such as Rieussec or Suduiraut, “the overall trend of declining sweet wine sales appears consistent across major players,” O’Connell argues.
Liv-ex’s Stevens argues that this reflects the difficult and “overstocked” secondary market, where wines have struggled for bids – and the challenge specific to dessert wines of consumption rates versus production rates and “whether they are in vogue or not”. After all, “they can take a hell of a long time to mature,” he points out.
And this is something that Yquem’s new owner, luxury goods giant LVMH, has sought to address, both in the vineyard and through its marketing.
According to db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay, in recent years “d’Yquem, above all, has sought to make itself more accessible, including to the young and less crusty and aristocratic”.
While there haven’t been any radical shifts in winemaking style or approach, there have been a series of subtle changes that all lead in this direction. “I think there is considerable emphasis on the health of the vineyard and the capacity to retain moisture in the soil and the freshness of the fruit,” Hay explains.
There have been some changes in the blend, with the selection of grapes for the grand vin becoming even stricter “than it has ever been”, with more Sauvignon Blanc included in the blend in certain years to boost its acidity (45% in 2019, compared to only 20% the previous year).
D’Yquem’s estate manager Lorenzo Pasquini has previously talked about the team’s progress in preserving and enhancing the expression of the primary fruit, which he said added “white peach, fresh apricot, white flowers and yellow Mirabelle plum aromas” to youthful d’Yquems, in addition to the familiar “orange peel, saffron and bergamot notes”.
The use of oak has become even more subtle and delicate than before, Hay continues, with a reduction in the ageing period (the 2020 vintage, for example, was in oak for only 22 months, down from the 36 months of previous vintages) and less racking. As a result, the wines are “arguably less dense and concentrated, with the accent placed on levity, freshness and aromatic complexity”, Hay says.
Overall, the approach is designed to produce a wine that is accessible immediately after it is bottled and in its youth – and this approach is being encouraged through LVMH’s Lighthouse Programme, a concept which sees d’Yquem available by the glass in a select range of nearly 40 venues around the world – including the NoMad Hotel, Annabel’s, the Portland Restaurant, and Berry Bros. & Rudd in London, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire, Aira in Stockholm, Le Caprice in Hong Kong, Shanghai’s Villa le Bec, Michelin-starred Le Coucou in New York and Sushi Nakazawa in Greenwich Village, as well as Spago in Beverly Hills.
“It is no longer a sin to drink Sauternes, including its greatest wine, d’Yquem, in its infancy,” Hay smiles. “While that might be heretical to some, I find it a breath of fresh air.”
Like those in the Lighthouse Programme, the restaurant offers wines by the glass with a meal. Younger vintages of d’Yquem are available by the glass for around US$105-$125, while older, rare vintages can climb to US$500 a glass. Guests also have the opportunity to compare both younger and more mature vintages in an “immersive tasting experience” of four curated wines, as as well as order whole bottles of d’Yquem if desired.
“The idea is to break the notion that d’Yquem has to be kept for decades and decades, and drink it 30 to 40 years down the line,” he explains. “We’re seeing tremendous success, and I think it’s a really fun way to break the traditional role of wine pairing. We can pair it with cheese, maybe with lobster or shellfish, and it’s a fun way to show guests that d’Yquem and Sauternes in general is more than just a dessert wine – it can be enjoyed in its youth.”
Guests are still quite surprised when a d’Yquem is recommended for a second course or even a main course, Caine notes. “Typically, they think dessert wines aren’t for them, but you tell them about Yquem and all of a sudden it’s magic in a glass,” he says. “It’s a wine we can introduce to people and, 10 out of 10 times, guests are beyond happy.”
Caine believes the initiative has proven to be a great way to showcase both the wine in its youth, as well as its versatility. “We’re seeing everyone from wine connoisseurs and aficionados to novices that are intrigued by the history of d’Yquem and by the pairings and the collection that we have,” he adds.
There is clearly a market for the landmark vintages from the late 1980s and early 1990s. “The trilogy vintages are very popular: the ’88, ’89 and ’90 were revered for being some of the most unique expressions of the terroir,” says Caine. San Ysidro Ranch is also opening bottles as old as 1967 and 1959, he says, while at the other end of the spectrum, the wines from the mid-2000s are also proving popular.
“We’re seeing a lot of 2011 bought, as well as the 2014s and the ’08 – another legendary vintage, so it’s shifting more towards the ‘younger’ vintages,” he says.
As Hay argues: “When one considers that, when the Lighthouse project was first launched, many saw d’Yquem as being threatened more than perhaps any other classed growth superstar by the then pervasive market trends, there is a lot in d’Yquem’s strategy that other leading estates can learn from in difficult market conditions.
“It is seeking to cultivate covetability, but without being overly reliant on its history and heritage".
Chanel... Rolex... Dior. There are some names that are simply iconic – and Château d’Yquem is undoubtedly one of them. Beloved by Thomas Jefferson and said to be as fresh as ever after 100 years in bottle, few wines have captured the imagination in quite the same way.
It even has a day named after it – D’Yquem Day falls on the third Thursday in March, when the previous vintage can be snapped up by its (well-heeled) fans.
But, in an age of declining consumption of wine – particularly of sweet wines – what is demand for this landmark wine like? Has its long history and glowing reputation caused it to rest on its laurels, or can d’Yquem maintain its status in today’s market?
The history of this famous estate in Sauternes is a well-trodden path. Once owned by the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Plantagenet Kings of England, it was reclaimed by the French crown in 1453, with feudal tenure of d’Yquem given to a local nobleman, Jacques Sauvage, in 1593. Although the family didn’t take full ownership for more than 100 years, it was during this time that the château itself was built, and the current vineyards were established, plot by plot.
The estate flourished, surviving the destruction of the French Revolution thanks to the brilliant management of Françoise Joséphine de Sauvage, the ‘lady of d’Yquem’, whose marriage brought the estate into the Lur Saluces family (where it remained for over 200 years). Widowed only three years after her marriage, it was Françoise Joséphine who built a new wine cellar and perfected the idea of picking the grapes in several passes, steering the business and building the estate’s stratospheric reputation. Under her grandson, d’Yquem became the only Sauternes estate to be designated Premier Cru Supérieur in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
But, history aside, how influential and important does this iconic producer remain today?
Pantheon of greats
According to Marc Ditcham, fine wine broker at Corney & Barrow, in the world of sweet wine, Château d’Yquem still stands “head and shoulders” above all others. “In the wine trade we love to talk about upcoming producers, regions and trends – and, although this is true when it comes to still and sparkling wine, when it comes to sweet wine there are no real disrupters, be it heroes or threats,” he says. Its position among the pantheon of greats is “truly merited”, he argues, due “first and foremost [to] its sublime deliciousness; perfectly pitched in its youth, yet able to garner increasing superlatives the longer it spends in bottle”. Ditcham adds: “You don’t need to be a wine nerd or need technical instruction to be dazzled and charmed by its delectability.” And d’Yquem has flexed its reputation by consistently ranking towards the top of the Liv-ex Power 100, the annual ranking of fine wine brands that reflects trade on the global marketplace over the previous 12 months. In 2024, it was in fifth position, having dropped three rungs from second place in 2023.
As Robbie Stevens, head of broking at Liv-ex, explains, a brand’s position reflects not only the number of transactions in a year, but also its year-on- year price performance, and the amount traded by volume and value. Given the longevity of d’Yquem vintages – and that it tends to be less volatile than many other Bordeaux brands – there are a high number of wines traded.
“D’Yquem carried a higher price than any other Sauternes and, barring a few German wines and Tokajis, it is at the high price point, so it has a lot of things going for it,” Stevens points out.
It also dominates the category. Bordeaux Index, for example, saw d’Yquem’s activity account for nearly 50% of white Bordeaux and over 90% of Sauternes/Barsac sales by value last year. Similarly, at French-based online auction house iDealwine, d’Yquem holds a unique position in Bordeaux sweet wine auctions, amounting to 15% of bottles sold (by volume) while representing 56% of 2024 auction sales, with an average price of €374– three times higher than the category’s observed average (€99). A bottle of d’Yquem 1945 was sold for €4,250, while the oldest bottled sold by iDealwine in 2024 dated back to 1914.
That being said, 2024 was not the most auspicious year for fine wine in general, and d’Yquem has not been immune. Matthew O’Connell CEO, LiveTrade, and head of investment at Bordeaux Index, explains that the company’s sales of d’Yquem fell 25% in 2024 compared with 2023, down 30% against the five-year average, something that reflects “a major contraction from the buoyant market of 2021 and 2022”.
Similarly, Liv-ex’s Sauternes 50 index declined 6% in 2024, and fell 8% over a two-year period – although the longer five-year timespan showed a rise of 5%. “There is some stability there – people buy it and hold it, and the supply and demand only goes down when it reaches maturity and starts to be drunk,” Stevens explains.
Prime vintages such as the 100-point trio of 2001, 2007 and 2009 represented the lion’s share of sales at Bordeaux Index, O’Connell says, collectively contributing 40% of total transactions, even though the price performance for those leading vintages has been “decidedly lacklustre”, with values for 2001 (described by Hedonism Wines’ website as “one of the greatest Sauternes ever made”) falling by 15% over the past two years, with the 2007 vintage declining by 5% over the same timespan.
As a result, prices for these key vintages are now at levels comparable to five years ago, O’Connell says, having missed much of the broader market upswing seen between 2020 and 2022.
But this is not peculiar to d’Yquem. Although the “near ubiquity” of d’Yquem limits the ability to draw meaningful conclusions about other Sauternes châteaux such as Rieussec or Suduiraut, “the overall trend of declining sweet wine sales appears consistent across major players,” O’Connell argues.
Liv-ex’s Stevens argues that this reflects the difficult and “overstocked” secondary market, where wines have struggled for bids – and the challenge specific to dessert wines of consumption rates versus production rates and “whether they are in vogue or not”. After all, “they can take a hell of a long time to mature,” he points out.
And this is something that Yquem’s new owner, luxury goods giant LVMH, has sought to address, both in the vineyard and through its marketing.
According to db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay, in recent years “d’Yquem, above all, has sought to make itself more accessible, including to the young and less crusty and aristocratic”.
While there haven’t been any radical shifts in winemaking style or approach, there have been a series of subtle changes that all lead in this direction. “I think there is considerable emphasis on the health of the vineyard and the capacity to retain moisture in the soil and the freshness of the fruit,” Hay explains.
There have been some changes in the blend, with the selection of grapes for the grand vin becoming even stricter “than it has ever been”, with more Sauvignon Blanc included in the blend in certain years to boost its acidity (45% in 2019, compared to only 20% the previous year).
D’Yquem’s estate manager Lorenzo Pasquini has previously talked about the team’s progress in preserving and enhancing the expression of the primary fruit, which he said added “white peach, fresh apricot, white flowers and yellow Mirabelle plum aromas” to youthful d’Yquems, in addition to the familiar “orange peel, saffron and bergamot notes”.
The use of oak has become even more subtle and delicate than before, Hay continues, with a reduction in the ageing period (the 2020 vintage, for example, was in oak for only 22 months, down from the 36 months of previous vintages) and less racking. As a result, the wines are “arguably less dense and concentrated, with the accent placed on levity, freshness and aromatic complexity”, Hay says.
Overall, the approach is designed to produce a wine that is accessible immediately after it is bottled and in its youth – and this approach is being encouraged through LVMH’s Lighthouse Programme, a concept which sees d’Yquem available by the glass in a select range of nearly 40 venues around the world – including the NoMad Hotel, Annabel’s, the Portland Restaurant, and Berry Bros. & Rudd in London, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire, Aira in Stockholm, Le Caprice in Hong Kong, Shanghai’s Villa le Bec, Michelin-starred Le Coucou in New York and Sushi Nakazawa in Greenwich Village, as well as Spago in Beverly Hills.
“It is no longer a sin to drink Sauternes, including its greatest wine, d’Yquem, in its infancy,” Hay smiles. “While that might be heretical to some, I find it a breath of fresh air.”
Daily drinker
In the past, cases of d’Yquem used to be large and arguably more suited to the on- trade, which had the means and ability to a utilise a full case. However, nowadays, d’Yquem is starting to release smaller, more manageable size cases “in order to satisfy the demands of the daily drinker”, according to Corney & Barrow’s Ditcham. Private clients tend to buy en primeur, he adds, while “restaurants and private member clubs more often than not want bottles or half-bottles with age, and with a strong secondary market presence this can often be fulfilled,” he explains. Nowhere is this more apparent than at the Stonehouse Restaurant at the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, California, which bought a 138-vintage vertical of d’Yquem last year, making it the restaurant with the largest collection of d’Yquem anywhere in the world – stocking every vintage from 1887 to 2008, as well as some historic bottles dating back to 1811. Asked to explain the acquisition, food and beverage director Andrew Caine explains that the château’s dedication to quality is unrivalled and is reflected in the Ranch’s own determination to curate an exceptional wine programme. “For the château, it’s not about getting d’Yquem in a bottle – it’s about ensuring what they are putting out there is worthy of the Yquem label,” he says.
Like those in the Lighthouse Programme, the restaurant offers wines by the glass with a meal. Younger vintages of d’Yquem are available by the glass for around US$105-$125, while older, rare vintages can climb to US$500 a glass. Guests also have the opportunity to compare both younger and more mature vintages in an “immersive tasting experience” of four curated wines, as as well as order whole bottles of d’Yquem if desired.
“The idea is to break the notion that d’Yquem has to be kept for decades and decades, and drink it 30 to 40 years down the line,” he explains. “We’re seeing tremendous success, and I think it’s a really fun way to break the traditional role of wine pairing. We can pair it with cheese, maybe with lobster or shellfish, and it’s a fun way to show guests that d’Yquem and Sauternes in general is more than just a dessert wine – it can be enjoyed in its youth.”
Guests are still quite surprised when a d’Yquem is recommended for a second course or even a main course, Caine notes. “Typically, they think dessert wines aren’t for them, but you tell them about Yquem and all of a sudden it’s magic in a glass,” he says. “It’s a wine we can introduce to people and, 10 out of 10 times, guests are beyond happy.”
Caine believes the initiative has proven to be a great way to showcase both the wine in its youth, as well as its versatility. “We’re seeing everyone from wine connoisseurs and aficionados to novices that are intrigued by the history of d’Yquem and by the pairings and the collection that we have,” he adds.
There is clearly a market for the landmark vintages from the late 1980s and early 1990s. “The trilogy vintages are very popular: the ’88, ’89 and ’90 were revered for being some of the most unique expressions of the terroir,” says Caine. San Ysidro Ranch is also opening bottles as old as 1967 and 1959, he says, while at the other end of the spectrum, the wines from the mid-2000s are also proving popular.
“We’re seeing a lot of 2011 bought, as well as the 2014s and the ’08 – another legendary vintage, so it’s shifting more towards the ‘younger’ vintages,” he says.
As Hay argues: “When one considers that, when the Lighthouse project was first launched, many saw d’Yquem as being threatened more than perhaps any other classed growth superstar by the then pervasive market trends, there is a lot in d’Yquem’s strategy that other leading estates can learn from in difficult market conditions.
“It is seeking to cultivate covetability, but without being overly reliant on its history and heritage". 
