For sweet white wines, only Château d’Yquem has a classification of premier cru supérieur—it is quite literally in a league of its own. Part of Château d’Yquem’s excellence is the winemaking knowledge at the vineyard, where wine has been made since the 1500s, and part is its unique microclimate. If quality isn’t up to snuff in a certain year, the château doesn’t release a vintage, and (gasp!) sells off the juice. Situated in Gironde in southern Bordeaux, the vineyard is particularly well suited to “noble rot,” the colloquial name for a type of fungus called Botrytis cinerea that attacks grapes. The grapes shrivel and produce way less juice, but the droplets from every little botrytis-pruned grape are incredibly concentrated and make for sweet, elegant wines. It is also what makes the wines expensive to begin with: it simply takes exponentially more work and more vines to squeeze out a bottle of wine. The 1998 vintage is particularly exquisite; with notes of hazelnuts, vanilla creme brulee, honey and orange peel, it's plush, silky and absolutely gorgeous now -- but it will also cellar for ten to forty years, easily!
