Cape Heritage, Sweets & Fortifieds
Timed Online Auction, 5 - 17 June 2025
Sweets
About the SessionA rich offering of vintage wines that have stood the test of time.
ZAR 3 500
About this Item
A difficult vintage, requiring meticulous selection and careful crafting. At d'Yquem, new director Pierre Lurton went to draconian lengths, reducing the crop by half and increasing the usual proportion of Sauvignon Blanc to 35%.
Provenance
Private Client
Critics Ratings
'Rich and tense and bottomed out. Thick and dense.' - Jancis Robinson, JancisRobinson.com, 16+/20 (Feb 2014)
'This is a very good Sauternes for the vintage and for me, superior to the slightly blowsy 2003. A creamy, honeyed nose with hints of almond, apple-blossom and hazelnut. Very good lift. The palate is well-balanced with good acidity, touches of frangipane, honey, quince and Satsuma. Very elegant on the finish with superb length, though you could argue that it does not have the persistency and penetration of the '01. Still, very attractive indeed.' - Neal Martin, Wine Journal, 95/100 (April 2008)
'This is a beautiful Yquem, not huge or powerful, but with crispness, honey and freshness, very expressive of the year. The higher than usual proportion of Sauvignon in the blend gives it a real lift.' - Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, 95/100 (Jan 2005)
'Luscious mid-gold colour. Beautifully limpid and pure nose of dried apricot, a gently figgy toastiness, and lots of very lightly caramelised orange fruit. Exudes a creamy quality on the nose. On the palate there is full, luscious weight, with a terrifically oily texture, and intense fig and concentrated dried fruit flavours. There's a freshness and ripeness suggesting pieneapple and really ripe mango, but a lovely core of tea-leaf, tobacco and herbs that adds massively to the complexity. Acidity seems very well integrated and stays gently in the background, but it really persists in the finish and plays against the concentrated apricot and nectarine skin concentration of fruit. With fabulous length, this looks like a very good Yquem in the making, and along with Rieussec, my wine of the vintage.' - Tom Cannavan, 94/100 (Jan 2005)
'Wonderful aromas of pineapples, apples and lemons with loads of botrytis. Full-bodied, but incredibly refined and long. Superfresh and racy. It goes on and on and on. Fabulous. This has an incredible purity and brightness. Like a perfectly cut diamond.' - James Suckling, Wine Spectator, 95/100 (April 2005)
'This lively gold nectar has a super-powerful nose that comes leaping out of the glass, with just a hint of lemon oil from the Sauvignon (a full third of the blend this year) on top of the great whack of barley sugar richness of Semillon underneath. There is the most viscous pear juice sensation, good acidity, still some astringence and a great weight with a lovely fresh finish. Very persistent.' - Jancis Robinson MW, 18.5/20 (August 2005)