2022 Vin de Constance

The 2022 Vin de Constance was picked from 15 March until 7 April, with fewer picks since Matt Day said the team is more confident about when and how to pick. There were 18 passes through the vines compared to 30 in the past. There is one week maceration on the skins with pumpovers, then a pied de cuve is made with further fermentation on the skins with inoculated Sauternes strain of yeast. It went through a one or two hour press, with a lot of blending done in the small hours of the morning until all the tanks are around 165g/L residual sugar with 14 degrees alcohol, at which point Day finds that the fermentation stops naturally. It is aged for 18 months in 500-litre barrels with 50% new oak and a further 20 months (slightly longer) in barrel. It has a very pure and perfumed nose with wild honey, yellow fruit, quince and then hints of rose water and white flowers that emerge with time. The palate is viscous on the entry with exquisite balance. There is richness, as you expect from a Vin de Constance, but there is also no sense of heaviness and plenty of tension on the finish. Very precise and full of energy, this is a sophisticated Vin de Constance that will age beautifully in bottle.