2005 Château d'Yquem, 375ml

Sauternes makes the world’s most famous dessert wines. Though the appellation lies within the Graves region of Bordeaux’s left bank, the appellation makes only sweet wines from white grapes, primarily Semillon sometimes blended with small amounts of Muscadelle. The five communes within Sauternes are Barsac, Bommes, Fargues, Preignac and Sauternes. Barsac also has its own appellation and, typically, Barsac wines are slightly drier and lighter than other Sauternes. Sauternes are made when weather conditions result in a mold called Botrytis cinerea developing on the grapes, which causes them to become especially sweet. Sauternes are not produced every vintage, so successful vintages become especially collectible. Sauternes estates were classified in 1855, and Château d’Yquem, the appellation’s most prestigious estate, was ranked in a class by itself as a Premier Grand Cru. Château d’Yquem wines are among the most prized wines in the world.

Château d’Yquem produces wine only in years when the vintage is worthy of the historic d’Yquem label. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been numerous years in which the château has deemed the quality of the grape harvest too poor to make Château d’Yquem Sauternes. The 2005 vintage, however, was a vintage to celebrate. The 2005 harvest was so outstanding that d’Yquem not only made wine, but made a special bottle for the wine. In 2005, for the first time in its history, Château d’Yquem bottled a limited amount of wine in 15-liter formats, called Nebuchadnezzars. The bottle equals 20 standard 750ml bottles. Only 100 of the 15-liter bottles were released for sale. Another 20 were kept for the château’s collection. Previously the largest format used by d’Yquem was a 6-liter format. WineBid.com bought bottle #70 directly from the château as a salute to the extraordinary 2005 vintage of one of the world’s most renowned producers.