Standard - 75cl
Lift and richness and electrified raisins! There's a lot of energy here. Medicine? Sinewy. Not the sweetest.
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.
Pale gold. Knockout aromas of creme brulee, coconut, vanilla bean, honey and orange peel. Lush and seductively silky in the mouth; its creamy, seamless texture makes it seem deceptively accessible today but sound acid structure should keep it going for 20 years or more. Not hugely sweet or tropical but very complex and fine. Firm, hazelnutty finish offers great length, if not quite the grip of the '89.
Château d'Yquem Sauternes 1998
Cooked apple, with hints of honey, lemon and butter. Turns to dried apricots. Full and round, very sweet, with a candied character. Good enough, but a little cloying on the palate. I have had this many times: not what it should be. Lots of bottle variation. Drink now. -JS