Château d’Yquem: Exploring Wine, Noble Rot, and Human Emotion with Lorenzo Pasquini

Wine is experiential. It is what the industry has to hang its hat on. Each glass needs to conjure up emotion, memories and a sense of being.

My father bought his wine shop in 1969 and a started his academic journey to understand and promote wine. He took master classes before they were masterclasses: German Wine Academy, the Italian Wine Consortium and many more. He was a learner. 

So when he was telling me a story about one of the most emotional wines he had ever tasted, and how he had waited in a long line to get a thimblefull of a taste, it was required listening. That day at a Hueblien auction, they were auctioning the iconic 1921 Chateau d'Yquem and I believe the auctioneer was the famed Michael Broadbent.

When I heard that Lorenzo Pasquini, the Director of Chateau d"Yquem was going to be in LA, I created a stir of inquiries to get him on the podcast. We ended up at Wallys famed wine bar and restaurant for a sit down episode of the show.

I have to tell you that sitting down with Lorenzo Pasquini at Wally’s in Beverly Hills was a breath of fresh air. It’s not every day you get to share a table (and a glass) with the director of Château d'Yquem, one of the most storied estates in Bordeaux. Right from the start, Lorenzo hit me with a line that stuck: “Wine is by definition very human.” As someone who’s been fascinated by the soul and story of wine for decades, I couldn't help but smile. This wasn’t going to be your average technical chat about barrels and Brix.

Now, I like anecdotes—my dad was the king of them—and I come from a world where every wine has a memory attached. Lorenzo gets that. He talked about how Yquem isn’t just a brand, or even a name, but something almost universal, capable of creating emotion in savvy collectors and absolute newcomers alike. It reminded me of my dad waiting in line for a thimble of '21 Yquem at the Hublin auction—the anticipation, the respect, the pure joy of tasting something almost mythical.

We dug into the mystery of botrytis—the “noble rot”—and why it’s at the heart of what makes Yquem so special. Lorenzo’s insight was that it’s not about control. There’s an element of surrender and humility. You can prepare, observe, react, but ultimately you wait for nature to do her thing. That’s the contrast, really, between technology-driven wines and those that are still, in essence, artisanal. There's a sense of patience and a sense of trust in the process that I find inspiring—and grounding.

He made me think differently about the grapes themselves. I had always pictured noble rot as something pretty unappetizing. But Lorenzo described how, seen under a microscope, it's actually beautiful—almost poetic. Sometimes you just need to change your perspective to find the beauty, even when it comes to the fungus that transforms a grape.

We compared vintages—the pure botrytis expression of 2013 versus the fruit-forward 2017 and the youthful vibrancy of 2023. Lorenzo talked about the pickers, some well into their seventies, able to discern the subtle aromas and select only the best bunches. There’s a community behind Yquem, not just a technical team, and their wisdom and experience shape every harvest. It feels honest, real—less about chasing perfection, more about honoring the place and the moment.

Of course, I had to bring up my penchant for pairing Sauternes with pot-au-feu—cordial glasses be damned. Lorenzo set me straight on the right glassware. More importantly, he reminded me (and our listeners) that sweet doesn’t mean dessert. Yquem can go with just about anything, as long as the story and emotion are there.

We talked about time travel—the unique thrill of opening a bottle from 1811, discovering a wine that’s still alive, still evolving. It’s about respecting history, but it’s also about a relentless drive to improve, to find that extra tenth of a percent of quality.

Lorenzo’s journey—from Tuscany to Bordeaux, from Rome to Argentina—is a testament to the interconnectedness of the wine world. He sees France and Italy as two faces of the same medal. That resonated with me. In the end, whether you talk luxury branding or climate-driven sustainability, Yquem’s story is about people, patience, the land, and the endless effort to express something honest and beautiful in every bottle.

This was a conversation that didn’t just inform—it inspired. That’s the kind of insight I’m always looking for on Wine Talks.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/jhPFJ4jw1iU

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