Why this vintage
- 97/100 from Jeb Dunnuckand 4 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2021 vintage in SauternesA cool autumn offered ideal botrytis: taut, pure sweet wines, in the style of the great classic years.
Critic scores
- Jeb Dunnuck97
- James Suckling93-94
- Wine Advocate93
- Decanter93
- Vinous92
The 2021 vintage in Sauternes
Vintage benchmark: 94/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: A cool autumn offered ideal botrytis: taut, pure sweet wines, in the style of the great classic years.
Overall reading of the year’s season across Sauternes. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.
Tasting
The nose is powerful, with notes of dried fruit (apricots and currants) and roasted pineapple, enhanced by hints of toast and smoke. The palette then evolves towards grilled almonds and apricot crumble. On the palate, the wine offers a fine balance of freshness, with a gentle sensation of exotic fruits such as papaya and mango. Cooked apricots round out the flavours.
Blend of the 2021 vintage
- 91 % Sémillon
- 9 % Sauvignon Blanc
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2021 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with sémillon, sauvignon blanc, muscadelle — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 2021 sheet
- 13.9 % vol.Alcohol
Winemaking
The grapes are harvested by hand in small crates. On arrival at the winery, they are immediately pressed in small pneumatic presses. After settling, the must is transferred to barrels for fermentation (new barrels for the Semillon, one-wine barrels for the Sauvignon). Each parcel is pressed and vinified separately. Alcoholic fermentation is stopped as soon as the desired balance between alcohol and sugar is reached. At the end of fermentation, the wines are kept on their lees and stirred regularly until mid-December. After a resting period, the wines are racked and blended before being put back into barrels to age for around 18 months.
Terroir
Château Rieussec's vineyards lie at the junction of Fargues and Sauternes, and it is one of the most important estates in Sauternes and Barsac. Its vines cover 85 hectares of sandy-clay gravel.
An offer on Château Rieussec 2021
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2021
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
This wine’s visuals are grouped in the media library. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
Sheet checked on September 28, 2026. Technical data: the estate’s VinCod sheets. Critic scores: sources cited above, with their date. Vintage benchmarks and character: Compagnie Médocaine’s own editorial read. Soils and relief, where shown: the Compagnie Médocaine’s parcel survey and the Mapbox/IGN terrain model.