Wines of the Week: Chateau d’Yquem & Silver Heights

Chateau d’Yquem 1987 Sauternes Premier Cru Supérieur            94

Deep golden yellow. Delicate but somewhat monolithic nose offers aromas of orange blossom, acacia flower, chestnut honey, orange marmalade and sweet spices; really not that much noble rot here, but rather nuances of air-dried grapes. Then much more complex, very rich and beautifully textured in the mouth, with concentrated, typically passerillé flavours of peach, crystallized apricot, beeswax and sweet spices. Closes long and beautifully textured, leaving a very sweet, luscious mouthcoating impression behind but one that is also wonderfully lifted thanks to harmonious acidity. A very underrated Yquem that has developed far better than anyone might have thought, though the five liter bottle undoubtedly helped this wine’s rather splendid performance. The 1987 vintage was characterized by generally hot weather following in the footsteps of a cold winter and a wet spring that spread out flowering considerably. Clearly the combination of hot and rainy weather is never a good one in vineyards, and 1987 is not remembered as one of the all-time great Yquem vintages. That said, this is a really great wine and a proof-perfect example of why this property is not just the word’s most famous wine producer, but also one of the five best of them all. And I realize that when I say top-five, I’m probably being ungenerous. Drinking window: 2023-2045.

Silver Heights 2021 Cider Spring Waltz Ningxia China                   92

There are a lot of talented and hard-working, even visionary, winemakers in China today, but none more so than Emma Gao, owner and winemaker of Silver Heights winery in Ningxia. Trained at Château Calon-Ségur, Emma is curiosity personified and quite the tinkerer and experimenter: currently, she is making some of China’s best wines. For example, if you had told me ten years ago that China would one day be making decent Pinot Noir wines I would have given you a quizzical, even funny, look; but the egg is clearly on my face now, because there is now more than one Chinese Pinot Noir wine that is the equivalent of many a good Bourgogne Villages, and these wines are only going to get better, just as it was in New Zeland, Ontario (Canada), and Oregon. So you can imagine I wasn’t surprised when I found Emma Gao’s latest creation to be absolutely lip-smackingly delicious. Only this time it’s not a wine, but a cider. The Silver Heights 2021 Cider Spring Waltz Ningxia China is remarkably fresh and delicious. Made in a style that is more reminiscent of the fresh and lively sidres of Normandy rather than the more oxidative-styled ones of Brittany, it may not be the most concentrated or deep cider you will have ever tasted in your life, but it is just a joy to drink from first sip to last.

Pale golden-tinged straw yellow with a delicate bead. Offers vibrant aromas and flavours of lemony apples, vanilla, and white flowers. At once juicy and sappy, this cider leaves the mouth feeling fresh and clean on the long suave fruity and citrus-accented finish. Made with organically grown apples, this cider is a blend of 50% Fuji apples and 50% qinguan apples. The latter a local Chinese variety typical of the province of Gansu (Gao sources them from apple trees grown close to the border with Ningxia, the province where her Silver Heights winery is located) where it grows at 1800 meters above sea level; it ideal for cider production as it adds noteworthy acidity and freshness. The apples are pressed carefully and gently to avoid oxidation, débourbage is carried out to clear the juice, and partly aged in oak barrels for added complexity. The cider carries out a second fermentation in bottle, with dégorgement occurring before release. Drinking window: 2023-2024.