Klein Constantia Vin De Constance, Sweet Wine | 500 ml

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Since then it has grown, and Jamie is now a full-time wine writer, lecturer, wine judge and book author.

At that moment I knew that I couldn’t just write about my experience, I had to experience the wine fully, so am currently planning my second visit to Cape Town in March 2023 to meet the winemaker Matthew Day and his familywho continue to care for the Klein Constantia brand. Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance produced from Muscat de Frontignan grapes on the Cape Peninsula. Photo: Klein Constantia For Day, it’s about fine-tuning the balance between primary, secondary and tertiary flavours – taste 2014 today and the emphasis is on the tertiary, while 2020 “has just left the primary stage”. The estate is owned by a number of businesspeople, including Zdeněk Bakala and Charles Harman, who acquired it in 2011. The following year, Klein Constantia merged with Stellenbosch’s Anwilka Estate. The latter’s Bordelais owners Hubert de Boüard (of Château Angélus) and Bruno Prats (formerly of Cos d’Estournel ) became shareholders as a result. Klein Constantia is noted particularly for its production of high-quality white wines, including Sauvignon blanc and Riesling and is world-renowned for its revival of the famous 18th and 19th century Constantia dessert wine, known today as Vin de Constance.In Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen's character Mrs Jennings recommends a little Constantia for "its healing powers on a disappointed heart". [4] The modern era for Klein Constantia can arguable be said to start when Duggie Jooste bought the estate in 1979 and decided to revive the farm to its former winemaking glory with the help of Professor Chris Orferr of Stellenbosch University. In 1985 Klein Constantia released the first new vintages for commercial sale in over a century. Most recently the Jooste family sold the estate to Zdenek Bakala and Charles Harman in 2011. In 2012 the estate merged with Anwilka and gained two new shareholders in the form of wine world heavy weights Bruno Prats and Hubert de Boüard.

Constantia, the first wine farm in Southern Africa, was established in 1685 by the VOC Governor of the Cape Simon van der Stel, and was used to produce wine as well as other fruit and vegetables and cattle farming. Van der Stel, a keen viticulturist, had been the first to recognize the potential of the decomposed granite soil in the sheltered valley facing False Bay and bounded by sea on both sides after he had had soil samples collected from all over the Cape. He chose this area to plant his vines and named it Constantia. The current portfolio of Klein Constantia wine includes the super-premium Estate range and the lifestyle KC range as well as special release wines like the single vineyard Perdeblokke Sauvignon blanc and a Méthode Cap Classique. Anwilka produces a flagship eponymous red wine and a second label 'little brother' red wine called, Petit Frère. Klein Constantia's icon wine remains, Vin de Constance. [17] Cape Muslim heritage [ edit ] Sheik Abdurachman Matebe Shah's kramat in Klein Constantia. The goal at Klein Constantia with Vin de Constance is to become that great sweet wine of the world,” he says. “I think we’re about 98% of the way there now. To get that last 2% is going to be 100 times harder than what we’ve done in the past. We’re not there yet, but we’re almost there.”Please note, whilst the majority of parcels sent on this service are received next day, this is not guaranteed.

The construction of the new winery also led to changes in the maturation policy, and the introduction of 4,500-litre foudres into the mix. While Vin de Constance 2016 was entirely matured in these (when they were brand-new), from 2019 the wine spends 18 months in 500-litre barrels, 60% of them new; then another 18 months in the foudres. The aim is a lighter touch to allow the fruit to shine through. It was under the Cloete family ownership that Constantia's sweet dessert wine "Vin de Constance" made primarily from vine-dried Muscat de Frontignan grapes reached the height of its fame. [2] Napoleon Bonaparte had as much as 1,126 liters (297 gallons) of Constantia wine shipped in wooden casks each year to Longwood House, his home in exile on St Helena from 1815 until his death in 1821. The Count de las Cases reported that, on his deathbed, Napoleon refused everything offered to him but a glass of Constantia wine. [3] The wines of Klein Constantia and Anwilka, including Vin de Constance, are represented in the UK by Mentzendorff. Skrabec, Quentin R. (September 2010). The world's richest neighborhood: how Pittsburgh's East Enders forged American industry. Algora Publishing. p.63. ISBN 9780875867953.

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Wine Spectator (USA): wines rated 90-plus". Archived from the original on 7 July 2012 . Retrieved 20 March 2012. The original Constantia estate was huge, and a long time ago was split into a number of different properties. Since Klein Constantia released their Vin de Constance, neighbouring estates have joined the game: Groot Constantia followed in 2003 with their Grand Constance, and Buitenverwachting have their 1769. Bush vines are very important,” says Day. “They bring out a lot of natural acidity because they ripen quite early in the season.” Devoted to Klein Constantia as they were, Clara and Abraham were determined that the farm should remain within the de Villiers family. As they had no children of their own, their nephew Jan, son of Rocco and Annie de Villiers of Paarl, was designated as their heir, and sent to the University of California at Berkeley for two years to study viticulture. When Jan returned to Klein Constantia he remained until Abraham's death in 1930, when he then left for the Transvaal, returning only in 1955 when his Aunt Clara died, whereupon he inherited the property. With the passing of Clara Hussey de Villiers, the era of glamour and splendour came to an end. [8] The Jooste Era [ edit ]