Yquem 2017 was released at €275 per bottle ex-Bordeaux, up 10% on the 2016 vintage release price. That translated to £3,528 per case of 12 75cl bottles in the UK.
Liv-ex data showed that 2017 was the second most expensive vintage on the market in the last decade, behind the 2009 wine.
Decanter’s Jane Anson gave Yquem 2017 96 points after tasting it in-barrel during Bordeaux en primeur week in April 2018. She rated the 2016 slightly higher at the same stage.
‘Given Yquem’s price performance history, there probably isn’t any rush to acquire this,’ said analysis group Wine Lister of the 2017 release.
Sauternes and Barsac wines have struggled for momentum on the fine wine market for several years now, albeit the best wines can age for decades and Yquem is seen as the most collectible name.
Yquem was placed in the second tier of the five-tier, global Liv-ex classification released in July 2019, having achieved an average price of £2,199 per case of 12 75cl bottles.
Some UK merchants were offering smaller quantities of the 2017 vintage.
Lay & Wheeler, for example, was selling a single 75cl bottle of Yquem 2017 for £294 in bond, and three bottles for £882 in bond.
Anson said that there were likely to be around 80,000 bottles of Yquem 2017, after the estate used 45% of its 17hl per hectare crop for the first wine.
Yquem also released a new tranche of its 2007 vintage this week, direct from the estate’s cellars, at €300 per bottle ex-Bordeaux.
That is below the original release price, but Liv-ex said the recommended retail price of £3,840 per 12 bottles was a 74% premium to current stocks of 2007 on the market, said Liv-ex.
Wine Lister said, ‘A consumer would have to be dead set on ex-château provenance to pay this, but it has the advantage of making the 2017 more reasonable by comparison.’
Dry white wine Y d’Yquem 2018 was also released, at €104 per bottle ex-Bordeaux.
See who else has released wines via Place de Bordeaux in September
See all of our Bordeaux 2018 en primeur coverage
