1988 Yquem

The 1988 Yquem is similar to the bottle I tasted two years earlier, one of my favorite vintages from that decade. Orange pith, quince, wax resin, and mandarin blossom on the nose, yet there is more control and focus than in other warmer vintages. The palate is underpinned by a wonderful frisson of acidity that cuts a swathe through the viscous fruit with Clementine and touches of crème brûlée on the finish. It’s firing on all cylinders, and I envisage it remaining there for some time. (NM)

Just a fabulous wine from the moment the wine hit the glass. The explosive nose, with its coconut, butterscotch, creme brulee, candied orange, flowers, vanilla bean, and honeyed tropical fruit got you to stop, stare and take another sniff. Rich, lush, opulent, intensely concentrated, velvet-textured apricots, yellow tropical fruits and a gallon of honey that was perfectly braced with a wall of acidity that hung on for well over 60 seconds in the finish. This has entered the start of secondary development and could easily go 100 years. As a guess, the next marker comes in with another 20 yeas of age.