Producers: Château d`Yquem

Château Yquem, a legend for centuries, was already served in the 15th century at the court of the King of England. In 1593, a famous family called Sauvage was entrusted with the management of the winery. The Sauvages introduced the now traditional late harvest, built the present castle and extended the vineyard parcel by parcel to the proud size of 113 hectares. Under Louis XIV, the Sauvage family became owner of Château Yquem, and in 1785 Françoise Joséphine de Sauvage married Louis Amédée de Lur-Saluces. After three years of marriage, Countess Françoise Joséphine became a widow and from then on had to take care of the estate alone. Despite the legal ambiguities during the French Revolution, she was able to retain Château Yquem. In 1826 she built a wine cellar - that was rare at that time - with which the Château took on a pioneering role and became known in the international wine scene accordingly. During this time she has also introduced the harvest in several rounds. Her work was rewarded in 1855, unfortunately only after her demise, when Château Yquem, under the guidance of her grandson Romain-Bertrand de Lur-Saluces, was classified as the only Premier Cru Supérieur in the Sauternes Appellation. From the late nineteenth century, the wines of d'Yquem were very sought after and were served at all the prestigious tables of this world. Unfortunately, this successful period ended with the spread of phylloxera and the First World War of 1914-18. Bertrand de Lur-Saluces, one of the descendants, was an officer during the war and transformed the estate into a military hospital. Also during the 1930s crisis and in the Second World War d'Yquem was used as a hospital. After the war, until his death in 1968, Bertrand refined Château Yquem further and led it back to the top of the region. He was also the one who witnessed the introduction of the AOC Sauternes and the establishment of the bottling at the castel (mise en bouteille au Château). In 1975, after three devastating years for the production of d'Yquem, his nephew Alexandre de Lur-Saluces succeeded in overcoming the stalemate. In the 1980s, much was invested in new technologies and even more attention was paid to perfect work in the vineyard. Finally, in 1997, Bernard Arnault bought the property for the LVMH Group, which has since been responsible for the fortunes of the magical Château Yquem.