Initially owned by the English crown, who was Duke of Aquitaine at the time, the lands were taken by Charles VII in 1453. In 1593 a descendent of a local noble family, Jacques Sauvage, was granted dominion Yquem. Even at this time small-scale and special winegrowing practices were underway.
In 1711 the family became full owners of Yquem and vineyards were put in place on a larger scale.
In 1785 it passed to the Lur-Saluces family when Françoise-Joséphine de Sauvage d'Yquem married Count Louis-Amédée de Lur-Saluces, the godson of Louis XV and Lady Victoire of France.
He died three years later and his wife devoted her energies into improving the estate – the chateau itself is a result of her efforts, as well as of her immediate descendents. She was thrown into prison twice due to her criticism of the excesses of the Revolution, but nevertheless kept her grip on the family property. She passed the legacy on to Romain-Bertrand de Lur Saluces, her grandson, and it was through his earnest efforts that ensured a century of resounding success.
While Envoy to France Thomas Jefferson was taken aback by the sheer quality of the wine, praising it as the best white wine in France. He ordered 250 bottles for himself and additional bottles for George Washington. The Great Duke Constantine, brother of the Tsar in Russia, paid 20,000 gold francs for a barrel of Chateau d’Yquem – an astonishing amount at the time. This level of quality ensured it’s status as a first growth – the only Sauternes given this elevated rating.
For most of the 20th century the Chateau was run by the Marquis Bernard de Lur-Saluces who developed its status until his death in 1968. Since 1996, Chateau d’Yquem has been owned by French luxury goods giant LVMH, who bought 51 percent of the Chateau from the family of the Comte Alexandre de Lur-Saluces after a bitter family fued. He was kept on as manager of the estate, however, until his retirement in 2004. He was then succeeded by Pierre Lurton. The former Count was known for his unflinching dedication to quality and was known to reject an entire batch of wine if random tastings were not to his liking.
The vineyard consists of 113 hectares between the villages of Sauternes and Fargues, though only 100 are in production at any one time. The vines consist of 80 percent Semillon and 20 percent Sauvignon Blanc, though the latter’s productivity means the proportions are more equal than the figures suggest. The site is especially susceptible to noble rot which greatly enhances the flavour. The harvesting comes in waves and is strictly timed, ensuring that only grapes with noble rot are selected. The yield is never more than 900 litres compared to the usual 2,000 to 3,000 litres in Sauternes. The grapes are pressed three times and transferred to oak barrels for maturation over a period of three and a half years.
A mere 65,000 bottles are produced each year. In a poor vintage the entire crop is dismissed as unworthy of the Chateau’s good name – this happened in 1910, 1915, 1930, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1972, 1974 and 1992. The wine is extremely long lived.
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