For every Wine Experience staged by the Wine Spectator, 30 sommeliers from around the country are assembled as the "Wine Team"; responsible for the tasting & preparation of over 6,000 bottles of wine to be poured over the course of the weekend. This year, the unforgettable highlight was the Chateau d'Yquem tasting of eight vintages dating back to 1962.

It is probably something that I will never experience again in my lifetime, and I know I will never again be in a room with a million dollars worth of Chateau d'Yquem! Wether a tiny sip of any vintage of Yquem, or a grandiose tasting like this, one cannot help but be moved by the silky, sultry flavors in every golden drop... Then, just knowing the history of Y'quem and it's many admirers throughout the centuries, we are further moved by it's rarity and timelessness. The only Chateau in Sauternes to be classified in 1855, Chateau d'Yquem, is 100 hectares in size, and planted with 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc- The foggy weather in autumn encourages the noble rot which concentrates the grapes sugars, flavors and acidity. This also leads to very low yields by which one vine of grapes will produce one glass of this unctuous liquid. These moldy bunches of grapes are hand-harvested in stages known as "tries", and fermentation slowly takes place in new barrels. The wine is then matured for three years in barrel prior to bottling. Pierre Lurton, the managing director put it best when he said "Yquem is death transformed into gold."

In teams of four, all of the sommeliers were assigned a vintage of d'Yquem, and the task of double tasting through 67 bottles to check for any faults in the wine.

For my team, it was the 2001 Chateau d'Yquem (100 pts/RP); a masterpiece of a wine. A wine that will live on for several decades. Here are just a few of my notes:

Chateau d'Yquem 2001
Bright and youthful with citrus & honeyed tropical fruit aromas; on the palate, silky, unctuous textures with focused concentration and bright acidity... Truly outstanding!!!

Chateau d'Yquem 1989
Not a classic year, but a very warm one - the heat of the summer showing through with ripe peach , apricot & honey aromas; a rich & spicy wine

Chateau d'Yquem 1983
Another interesting vintage with exotic ripeness in the glass; tropical fruits, coconut, pineapple and caramelized flavors - showing the great advantages of bottle-aging these wines

Chateau d'Yquem 1962 in Magnum
Stunning in it's complexity of flavors, it's smoothness and depth. It is rich & honeyed, with a touch of butterscotch on the finish