Vin de Constance 2021

I have been fortunate to taste almost every vintage of this legendary wine from the modern era and this is one of the very finest. I use the word finest carefully. Not best, the greatest, not the most impactful nor the richest. This is a fine wine, a refined wine, resplendent in finery. As the winery notes set out above, this is a wine made at a very relaxed pace from grapes with incredible natural sugars balanced by startlingly fresh acidity, and this is precisely what it tastes like. There is no excess flesh. ’21 VdC is a toned wine which strolls along the citrus spectrum, preferring not to set foot in oranges and purples, pinks or reds. It sticks to sensual yellows and strays only as far as green gold. This is sheer heaven. Not only for a sweet tooth like me, but for those who have yet to embrace the greatest sweet wines on the planet for fear that their teeth will fall out. ’21 Vin de Constance could not be further from this image. It is fit, agile, nubile, cleansing and refreshing. For every molecule of decadence, there is an equal and opposite molecule of dynamic acidity. While this is a sweet wine, it finishes dry! And I adore it. It will age forever – we know the rules, but I think that impatient collectors and daring restaurateurs might crack on with this beauty indecently early in its lifespan because it is already so utterly mesmerising.19.5+/20

Score: 19+

Matthew Jukes, MatthewJukes.com Maturity: 2024-2060 01 September 2024

Powerful apricot, chamomile, white tea, pineapple, preserved lemon, white flowers, gentle gunsmoke, intense, concentrated, vivid, just superb quality, spinning and stretching out on the finish. A wonderful vintage of Vin de Constance. Matthew Day winemaker, owners are Zdenek Bakala, Charmes Harman, Hubert de Boüard, Bruno Prats and Hans Astrom.

Score: 98

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux 01 September 2024