TN Chateau d'Yquem 1970
 

I have had a few bottles of 70 Yquem stored properly since shortly
after release. This wine is ready and likely needs drinking within the
next few years.

The wine is rather intense gold in color. It is a very concentrated
wine, with intense sweetness. The fruit is rather peachy, and there is
only little honey character. There perhaps is a touch of caramel, but I
did not detect oxidation. The problem is that this wine is a bit
unbalanced. It has too little acid to balance the great sweetness - or
perhaps I have been drinking too many late harvest German Rieslings
recently. The wine seems to have a very high alcohol content, which
makes it a bit hot. This is a quite decent Yquem, but because of the
unbalance it likely needs drinking fairly soon. The 71 has a reputation
for being considerably better than the 70, but it likely has peaked.

The 76 also has a good reputation. However the 70's Yquem to now have
for keeping up to many years longer is the 75, of which I have a few
bottles. Of the 50s, I still have the 55 and 59, both of which are
outstanding and are likely to last much longer. Then I have a bit of
the 67, perhaps the best of the 60s, that is still holding well. At
this time, my order of preference, starting with the best, is: 59, 67,
55, 75, 70. I might move the 75 up a place or two after a few more
years.I did not buy any Yquem after the 75 because I had plenty of
older vintages, and the price increased very much.

TN Chateau d'Yquem 1970
 

So, do you need any help drinking these marvels?


In article .com>,
" > wrote:

> I have had a few bottles of 70 Yquem stored properly since shortly
> after release. This wine is ready and likely needs drinking within the
> next few years.
>
> The wine is rather intense gold in color. It is a very concentrated
> wine, with intense sweetness. The fruit is rather peachy, and there is
> only little honey character. There perhaps is a touch of caramel, but I
> did not detect oxidation. The problem is that this wine is a bit
> unbalanced. It has too little acid to balance the great sweetness - or
> perhaps I have been drinking too many late harvest German Rieslings
> recently. The wine seems to have a very high alcohol content, which
> makes it a bit hot. This is a quite decent Yquem, but because of the
> unbalance it likely needs drinking fairly soon. The 71 has a reputation
> for being considerably better than the 70, but it likely has peaked.
>
> The 76 also has a good reputation. However the 70's Yquem to now have
> for keeping up to many years longer is the 75, of which I have a few
> bottles. Of the 50s, I still have the 55 and 59, both of which are
> outstanding and are likely to last much longer. Then I have a bit of
> the 67, perhaps the best of the 60s, that is still holding well. At
> this time, my order of preference, starting with the best, is: 59, 67,
> 55, 75, 70. I might move the 75 up a place or two after a few more
> years.I did not buy any Yquem after the 75 because I had plenty of
> older vintages, and the price increased very much.
>