Yquem 2022 released against all odds
The day on which the latest release from Château d’Yquem is revealed to wine lovers world-wide has affectionately come to be known as ‘Yquem Day’ and, this year, it fell on 19 March. This is the story of how the 2022 vintage almost didn’t survive to see the light of day, and why it reminds the château of 1945... and Star Wine List tasted them both!
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Since 1900, Château d'Yquem has chosen not to produce just 10 vintages for not meeting the property’s standards. The most recent washout was 2012; the previous one, 1992. Cut to early October 2022 and the team was nervous yet again. Was this going to be another cursed year ending with a two?
The growing season was, for a while, the driest and hottest ever in Bordeaux – there had been fires raging not far from Sauternes. In September, the weather started hot and dry before turning cold and humid – and the Botrytis cinerea was going in the wrong direction: instead of developing the noble rot, the grapes were starting simply to rot.
“On 10 October I called [Estate President] Pierre Lurton and said: ‘maybe we won't be able to make Yquem this year,’” remembers Estate Manager Lorenzo Pasquini. “We were scared of losing the entire crop.”
The first among firsts
Château d'Yquem is the 100-hectare crown jewel of the Sauternes appellation. In the famous 1855 Bordeaux classification it was ranked the only Premier Cru Supérieur, higher even than the famous reds.
The role of the 100 local harvest workers is paramount: they smell, and open the bunches in two to check the condition of the grapes. If just one berry is bad, the whole bunch is dropped to the ground. “There is no optical sorting table at Yquem,” says Pasquini.
The winemaking is also more low-tech than most people probably realise, as the Botrytis cinerea has already done its magical work to the berries – the rest is just fermentation, which is done in barrels.
“We are basically spectators and midwives,” says Pasquini. “We just listen to the fermentation and hear when it's ending."
Back to 2022
Suddenly, five days after the distress call to Pierre Lurton, everything changed. A warm south-easterly wind dried out the vineyards, which then started concentrating very fast and developing Botrytis cinerea... the good kind. Harvest started the next day.
“The weather coming back to warm conditions led to this incredible concentration of the grapes and depth in the wine,” says Pasquini. “Even though we passed through a very scary phase, at the end, we are very happy with the vintage. But this is the game at Sauternes, where we don't manage everything – there is a lot that we hand over to nature and then we have to adapt.”
The main portion of the 2022 harvest was completed in less than two weeks, instead of taking up to a month as in a more normal year. And the result is as atypical as the year itself had been.
The 1945 parallel
When it comes to Bordeaux vintages, few years evoke the same mystique as 1945 – the end of World War II coincided with some of the most revered Bordeaux wines in history. At Château d'Yquem, 1945 remains the vintage with the highest level of sugar ever recorded at the estate. And after the scary start, 2022 has now come in second; just as in 1945, the Yquem team feels as though they came back from the brink and now have a legend on their hands.
Tasting Yquem 1945 and 2022 side by side
In February 2025, a selection of top French wine writers – and Star Wine List – got an offer that was impossible to refuse: come and taste Yquem 1945 next to the new 2022 vintage, including samples of different lots from the vineyard, over lunch at Le Petit Sommelier in Paris.
Funnily enough, whatever other plans we had for the day were quickly thrown overboard. And our minds were suitably blown.
Ok, let's not beat about the bush: how was the 1945, we hear you ask?
This was probably the most unreal wine we've ever seen. And we mean seen, because even before raising the glass, there was the colour to admire. The COLOUR! The shifting, translucent, deep golden amber was positively mesmerising to watch. And at 80 years old, it showed that the wine was nowhere near getting ready to lie down. This was only confirmed by the taste, which was deep but completely pure, with concentrated caramel intensity and yet no hint of the mustiness that much younger wines often carry. A very long aftertaste – eternal.
And the 2022?
Considering the concentration of 2022, the wine showed a remarkable finesse. Despite its slight discretion on the nose to begin with, it opened up into aromas of honey and citrus, showing intense Botrytised notes of orange marmalade, apricot jam, candied lemon and delicate floral aromas. From the outset, it showed balance on the palate and a hint of bitterness, developing layers like it was singing. Opulent and vibrant. Very youthful and complex with an extremely long aftertaste. A beauty.
The future of 2022
After the ups and downs of the 2022 harvest season, Pasquini and the Yquem team feel confident they are releasing something special.
“We believe that 2022 will travel through time very gracefully,” he says. “Indeed, when we taste 1945 as we did today, we have the right to hope and to dream about the way the 2022 will age. We know the sugar helps the wine to keep – it's an antioxidant.”
What is the perfect Château d'Yquem pairing?
Château d'Yquem likes to highlight the drinkability of the wine alongside savoury dishes, serving it throughout the meal at Le Petit Sommelier, which included dishes like veal tartare with smoked eel, as well as duck and foie gras.
The 2022 Yquem showed its versatility with food even at the young age along the veal tartar - so although we would certainly keep some bottles for the long term, some of them will have to be drunk with dinner sooner!
“For me the best pairings are savoury dishes,” says Pasquini, “and especially playing on the contrast between the sugar of the wine and the salt of the dish, or the bitterness of the wine with the freshness of the course."
Find Château d'Yquem through your local merchants and restaurants. For more information on the 2022 vintage, visit the website.
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