Sémillon is grown throughout the world but is most famous for its role as a blending partner with Sauvignon Blanc in White Bordeaux and the sweetest wine in the world, Sauternes. Sémillon is fuller-bodied, round, and less acidic than Sauvignon Blanc, with an almost waxy, texture bringing some weight, and a lemony and sometimes a smoky quality to blends.
Sauvignon Blanc
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Sauvignon Blanc is grown throughout the world, and can have a wide range of aromas and flavors that vary depending on the terroir. It is most famous for White Bordeaux and the wines of the Loire Valley. The wines are typically Bright & Crisp, dry, and can vary from citrus fruit and pitted fruit, grass, mineral, herbs, and gooseberries. It is versatile with food, pairs particularly well with herbs and garlic, and is most famous for how well it marries with fresh goat cheese.
Château d’Yquem has a 400-year-old history and the distinction of being one of the most coveted sweet wines in the world, as well as one of Thomas Jefferson’s preferred wines.
Château d’Yquem is located in Sauternes which offers the perfect microclimate for the fungus botrytis or “noble rot.” Botrytis attacks grape skins, turning them brown and causing the skins to become permeable. This allows juice to evaporate, concentrating the sugar and flavors, a precarious process that depends a lot on the vagaries of weather—too much rain ruins the grapes, too little could create stiflingly dry conditions.
The estate practices very rigorous vineyard management, including the use of organic compost, low yields from rigorous pruning, and careful grape selection, which, given the 113 hectares, requires more than 200 people over the course of six weeks to complete. The wines, made from a high percentage of semillon along with sauvignon blanc, are sublime and viscous without being heavy while showing layers of exotic fruit, floral notes, and minerality.
