Quality Time with San Ysidro Ranch’s Château d’Yquem Collection

Montecito Resort Invests in 138 Vintages of World’s Most Cherished Dessert Wine

Credit: Courtesy

San Ysidro Ranch‘s campaign to reestablish its cellar as one of the most epic on earth took very large strides in recent months, as the Montecito resort paid an untold amount of money — certainly in the millions of dollars — for 138 bottles from separate vintages of the acclaimed French dessert wine Château d’Yquem.

With one wine dating all the way back to 1811, the museum-level acquisition pairs well with the 70 vintages of the red Bordeaux wine Château Pétrus that the ranch revealed in 2021. Both indicate how seriously the ranch is focused on rebuilding its more than 14,000-bottle cellar, which was decimated by the January 2018 mudslide.

From the Sauternes region of Bordeaux, d’Yquem is a blend of primarily sémillon with a touch of sauvignon blanc, which are both intentionally shriveled on the vine by a fungus called botrytis. Known as the “noble rot,” botrytis concentrates sugars in the drying grapes, leading to sweet finished wines that taste of fruit, flowers, and sunshine.

During a recent tour of the cellar, the ranch’s wine director Tristan Pitre — who put the deal together over six months between a London collector, his warehoused wines in Bordeaux, and a very careful shipment via Air France — spoke of the bottles as relics. “There are bubbles in the glass, and every punt is different,” explained Pitre, who isn’t quite sure what price they’ll put on the 1811, one of less than 10 left in existence. “I mean,” he wondered, “should we even sell that?”

The most recent 1811 bottle to publicly sell was in 2011, when a French collector paid $120,000 — the most ever spent on a white wine. More than a dozen years later, the ranch’s 1811 is certainly valued considerably, if not exponentially, higher than that.

Pitre wouldn’t discuss what they paid for the collection. But he was able to share some d’Yquem with the media folks who’d been invited for dinner by Chef Matthew Johnson in the Secret Cellar, located behind the main cellar and beneath the Stonehouse Restaurant.

We began with the 2013 vintage of the Château d’Yquem “Y,” which is the winery’s still white wine. That blend of mostly sauv blanc with a bit of sémillon — a reverse of the dessert-style formula — was served with Beausoleil oyster in a d’Yquem gelée with preserved Meyer lemon mignonette and flakes of 24K gold.

Pitre was hoping to pour the 1989 d’Yquem with the crispy Kurobuta pork belly, but it was corked, so he went with the 1990 instead. Like the 1983 that later came out with the Roquefort soufflé doused with sauce mornay, the 1990 was almost rusty in color, rather than the golden hue that we saw in the young 2019 d’Yquem we had with the apricot-coconut bombe for dessert.

“There’s a crazy diversity of color in the wines,” explained Pitre, noting the amber and burnt-orange hues we saw in the decanters. Flavor-wise, the older wines were quite savory, with dried apricot flavors most prevalent for me. The 2019 was more directly delicious, full of those insane honeysuckle and citrus-blossom elements that make you realize how amazing dessert wine can be.

In between the pork and the soufflé, Pitre cracked open a magnum of 2012 Burgundy from the Hospices de Beaune for a change of pace. That settled right up against the pistachio-crusted California squab dish, served atop spaetzle and chestnut puree. Altogether the wines were intriguing and lovely, though it’s honestly very hard to compete for attention with the high level of creative-while-satisfying food coming from the Stonehouse kitchen.

Those seeking to try some of San Ysidro Ranch’s new Château d’Yquem can book a custom tasting experience for $550 each. If that sounds like too much to get a taste of history, it’s a bargain compared to the Château Pétrus tasting, which starts at $2,500 a pop.

See sanysidroranch.com.