FYI - 1929 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes Blend 1500ml $4,885

I checked the internet just to see if the name on the crates of wine Anthony loads into the Jeep was real or fictitious. I found 1929 was a Top Vintage Year and they did not have another till 1967. (any error interpreting the info on the website is mine)


http://www.antique-wine.com/TopWines/yquem.aspx

1929 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes Blend 1500ml (50.72103383837922 oz) $4,885
The standard bottle has 750ml or half the amount stated above. So, if Anthony were carrying a standard bottle it would sell today for $2,442.50 each and if each case contained 12 bottles it would have a value today of $29,310/case. I think Anththony was carrying about 20 cases bringing the value of the entire wine shipment at $586,200 today.

History
Château d'Yquem is considered by many to be Bordeaux’s single greatest wine and it is the only wine in France to hold the Premier Cru Superieur (Great First Growth) designation. The uncompromising pursuit of quality is what sets this sweet white wine apart – a standard meticulously maintained throughout the estate’s history.

The château was built in the 16th and partly in the 17th centuries by the Sauvage d’Yquem family who came into possession of the estate in 1592. Nearly 200 years later, the Lur-Saluces family acquired the Château by marriage when, in 1785, Joséphine d'Yquem married Comte Louis Amédée de Lur Saluces.

It was under this new ownership that the vineyard flourished. Widowed only three years later at a young age, Joséphine d'Yquem transformed the estate into a highly efficient business with an international reputation. To accommodate the subsequent increase in demand that occurred with an increasing number of high-profile consumers, including the likes of Thomas Jefferson and the Tsars of Russia, a new cellar was built in 1826. This expansion was followed by a long period of prosperity for the Lur-Saluces family and Château d’Yquem.

In 1999, the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy group acquired a majority interest in the estate after members of the Lur-Saluces family disposed of their shares. In 2004, the group made the decision to appoint Pierre Lurton as manager of the estate, replacing Comte Alexandre de Lur Saluces. Lurton was prompt in making Château d’Yquem available en primeur, rapidly increasing the demand for this golden nectar. (read more)

Viticulture and Vinification
In terms of purity of style and richness, Château d’Yquem out-classes all other Sauternes. One of the major contributing factors to the wine’s complexity is the unique set of climatic and geological conditions that combine to form a rare microclimate.

The estate’s large size makes it possible to plant 113 hectares of vines (although only 100 hectares are used each vintage) across a variety of the Sauternes region’s soil types. The topsoil is dry and accumulates heat through the smooth flat pebbles and coarse gravel, whereas the clay subsoil has good water reserves, the drainage of which is aided by an extensive network of pipes (over 100km) that have been installed since the 19th century.

Harvested by hand, the grapes are picked not only in successive tries but also individually to ensure that each grape is picked only when fully botrytised. The Château’s selection process is notoriously severe with only one glass of wine produced per vine. On occasion, the wines are not considered worthy of Château d’Yquem and the vintage will be omitted, as was the case in 1972, 1974 and 1992.

The botrytised grapes are fermented in oak but when fermentation stops naturally at 13 to 14°C of alcohol, residual sugar remains, the amount of which determines the sweetness of the vintage. Typically after 3 years in barrel, an average of 110,000 bottles are produced per vintage.

Château d’Yquem’s dry white wine, Ygrec (French for ‘Y’) was introduced in 1959 as a natural reaction to the declining popularity of sweet wines. Increasingly the blend is dominated by Sauvignon Blanc resulting in a distinctive wine that is exceptionally dry but with botrytis on the nose and palate.

Classification
Château d’Yquem – Premier Cru Superieur Classé in 1855