If any wine is truly in a class of its own, it’s Château d’Yquem. It’s utterly unmatched in its quality, so when the wines of Sauternes and Barsac were classified in 1855, it got its own category: Most of the great sweet wines of Sauternes are labeled “Premier Grand Cru Classé,” but only Yquem carries the “Supérieur” distinction.

There is no bottle you can cellar with more confidence than Yquem. Consider that Robert Parker himself rated the 1811 vintage 100 points when he tasted it nearly 190 years after bottling. In other words, if there's such a thing as an immortal wine, Château d’Yquem is it.

Yquem is perhaps the most revered wine on the planet because of the unique conditions and extraordinary effort required to make it. The soils at Yquem lie on undulating slopes and comprise clay, gravel, and a deep bed of limestone. The autumn mists at the property encourage the grapes to form what the French call pourriture noble—“noble rot”—which aids evaporation and concentrates flavors.

The vineyard crew passes through and selectively picks each row an average of six times before the harvest is complete, and yields are minuscule—just nine hectoliters per hectare. The grapes are gently pressed three times before getting transferred to 100% new oak barrels, where the wine ages for three years before bottling.

Perhaps Yquem’s most famous visitor arrived in 1784, when Thomas Jefferson journeyed to Sauternes. Upon his return to Monticello, he wrote, “This is the best white wine of France.” He ordered 250 bottles of the 1784 Château d’Yquem for himself—and a few more for future President Washington. When you cellar or sip a bottle of Yquem, you’re participating in one of the most sacred traditions in wine, bar none.