Klein Constantia - Vin de Constance 2021 (liquoreux, 50cl)

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the wine:

This wine has been made the same way since 1737. The 2021 Klein Constantia Vin de Constance reflects a great vintage in Cape Town. The three-week period in March when the grapes are harvested is winemaker Matthew Day’s favorite time of year. He loves the way the sun illuminates this magnificent part of the vineyard. [...] The magic happens, he says, during maceration, when aromas of candied fruit and honey fill the cellar. It is a beautifully balanced wine built on three pillars, all carefully aligned: sugar, acidity, and alcohol. [...] The result is a sweet wine that seems almost dry thanks to its internal complexity and generous composition. Notes of teak, fragrant sandalwood, nougat, and Turkish tea will emerge more strongly as the wine continues to evolve in the bottle. According to Matthew Day, Vin de Constance generally reaches its peak after five years in the bottle, then begins a second cycle and opens up again. “It’s absolutely breathtaking,” he says. [...] The bouquet is understated, so delicate, so refined. 2025–2060

Vinous

About the wine:

The 2021 Vin de Constance is made from 27 different lots that underwent two weeks of maceration on the skins. With 173.5 grams per liter of residual sugar (as in 2020), it offers a very pure, effervescent bouquet with notes of quince, orange zest, and a hint of marmalade—wonderfully defined and concentrated. The palate is extremely well-balanced, with a viscous attack and excellent body, yet the acidity (6.3 grams per liter) keeps it lively. Quite spicy on the finish, it lingers long on the palate, and I can still taste it 30 seconds after tasting it. There is a real freshness and genuine vibrancy here. Exceptional. 2025–2045

Tim Atkin

About the wine:

Produced in a year that Matt Day describes as “perfect” for Vin de Constance, with a long, cool harvest that spanned three weeks, the 2021 vintage shows no signs of botrytis, yet displays astonishing concentration, freshness, and intensity. Blended from 25 lots of grapes, this wine confirms its place among the world’s greatest sweet wines, with its complex aromas of orange blossom, jasmine, quince, marmalade, and tarte tatin, its 168 grams of residual sugar, and its remarkable freshness and length on the palate. Best enjoyed between 2025 and 2036.

Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux

About the wine:

A long and relatively cool growing season, during which the harvest took place two weeks later than usual, resulting in exceptional structure and a contrasting texture that is both opulent and crisp. Very balanced and well-structured, it offers notes of bitter marmalade, lemon zest, mango, pineapple, crème caramel, and succulent dried apricot, with great intensity and a long finish, enhanced by hints of nutmeg, flint, and walnut. Matthew Day, winemaker. 18 months in 500-liter Hungarian and French oak barrels, 50% of which were new, followed by 16 months in large oak casks, 173 g/L residual sugar. 2025–2045