This is not merely a new vintage. It is a passing of the torch in the history of luxury wine. With the 2023 vintage, Château d’Yquem completes the first trilogy of the 21st century and simultaneously opens a new chapter under the leadership of its new CEO, Lorenzo Pasquini, appointed in 2025 after years as technical director. An Italian raised between Rome and the Maremma, Pasquini now finds himself safeguarding—and reinterpreting—one of the most iconic names in Bordeaux. The debut could only take the form of an event. On February 10, at the Musée Bourdelle in Paris, Yquem unveiled the 2023 vintage during an evening titled An Apotheosis—a name that serves both as declaration and promise. WineCouture was there, invited to witness a moment destined for the history books. Yesterday, March 11, marked the wine’s official release on the global market. Yet 2023 is already more than a release. It is a manifesto.
Château d’Yquem 2023: Balance as an Aesthetic Peak
After the crystalline tension of 2021 and the sun‑lit exuberance of 2022, the 2023 vintage reaches a higher dimension: perfect measure.
The season was complex, layered, alive. A warm, humid spring; a summer marked by heat spikes softened by timely rainfall; an ideal and progressive development of botrytis. Not an easy vintage, but a vintage fully understood.
In the glass, Château d’Yquem 2023 shines like liquid golden light.
On the nose: stewed rhubarb, lilac, vivid citrus, hints of beeswax and cedar.
On the palate: full, fluid, enveloping—ripe apricot, Ente plum, mandarin marmalade. Freshness is not contrast, but architecture.
The finish is long, saline, velvety. A wine with the grace of immediacy and the verticality of memory.
Already readable today, yet crafted to glide effortlessly through decades with aristocratic ease.
Château d’Yquem’s First Trilogy of the New Century
2021, 2022, 2023—three consecutive years of exceptional quality, a rare event in the recent history of the appellation, comparable only to the legendary 1988–1989–1990 sequence.
- 2021 was the year of resilience: frost, hail, and sanitary pressure required discipline and clarity, reinforcing Yquem’s commitment to organic vineyard management.
- 2022 pushed heat‑management and ripening strategies to the limit in a context of drought.
- 2023 is the synthesis: control, awareness, technical serenity.
In an era when climate change is rewriting the rules of global viticulture, Château d’Yquem proves that identity is not defended by rigidity, but by intelligent evolution.
Lorenzo Pasquini: A New Perspective on a Bordeaux Icon
For the first time, the vintage is announced by CEO Lorenzo Pasquini. His personal journey adds a new dimension to the Yquem narrative: Italian training, Mediterranean sensibility, Bordeaux discipline. From technical director to CEO in 2025, Pasquini embodies a contemporary form of leadership, capable of uniting agronomic rigor with strategic vision. The 2023 vintage is not only the apex of a trilogy—it is the first chapter of this new governance.
Time Capsule by Château d’Yquem: Liquid Memory for Collectors
Alongside the release, Château d’Yquem announced Time Capsule, a project opening access to extremely rare collections preserved in the château’s cellars. Available will be:
- 30 cases of the 1948–1949–1950 trilogy, symbol of post‑war rebirth
- 300 cases of the celebrated 1988–1989–1990 trilogy, considered the iconic sequence of the 20th century
This is not simply a commercial operation—it is a true act of sharing historical heritage. Château d’Yquem thus strengthens its position in the fine‑wine investment segment, deepening its dialogue with international collectors and high‑end secondary markets.
The Apotheosis and What Comes Next
Château d’Yquem 2023 is both conclusion and beginning. It closes a historic triptych while opening a new season. It is a serene, precise, deeply harmonious wine—one that does not shout but asserts; that does not seek effect but builds longevity. Apotheosis is not an endpoint—it is a threshold. And Château d’Yquem 2023 has crossed it.
