Our Provenance Guarantee
Purchase with confidence. All of our wines are selectively sourced and thoroughly inspected for authenticity and signs of poor storage. Accepted bottles are preserved in our climate-controlled cellar until they reach your doorstep. We have no storefront and no walk-in traffic, so nothing is moved or handled between inspection and shipping.
The bottle you see photographed is the bottle you receive (or fundamentally identical when multiple bottles are listed), and our commitment to you is that it arrives as represented. If it doesn’t, we want to hear from you.
Ratings & Tasting Notes:
99 points — Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“A backward-styled Yquem, built along the lines of the extraordinary 1975.” A honeyed, smoky nose of orange, coconut and pineapple leads to a full-bodied, concentrated palate with considerable botrytis and a sensational finish.
96 points — Vinous
Deep amber, with mandarin, orange blossom and wax resin, then crème brûlée, honeyed fruit, clementine and caramelized pear on a finish that fans out beautifully. “Without doubt, this was the best bottle of 1988 Yquem that I have encountered.”
Cult Wines International Notes:
Château d’Yquem stands alone as the only wine ranked Premier Cru Supérieur in the 1855 Classification, a distinction no other estate holds. Owned by the Lur-Saluces family from 1785 to 1999 and now part of LVMH, Yquem harvests its botrytised Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc berry by berry over several passes through the vineyard, and declines to release a wine at all in years that fall short, as in 1992 and 2012. Few wines anywhere age as long or as gracefully.
The 1988 opened Bordeaux’s legendary trilogy of great Sauternes vintages, followed by 1989 and 1990. A long, late harvest with several passes through the vineyard produced a wine rich in botrytis, built in a backward style that Robert Parker likened to the extraordinary 1975, scoring it 99 points. A blend of 80% Sémillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc, it is now fully mature, with deep amber color, mandarin, orange blossom, crème brûlée, honeyed fruit and caramelized pear, and Neal Martin of Vinous called a recent bottle the best 1988 Yquem he has encountered.
Bottle Size:
750 mL
Storage History:
Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.
Condition:
Please note: The bottle shown is the exact bottle being sold.
Outstanding condition.
