Vin de Constance
Grape Varietal: Muscat de Frontignan
Arguably South Africa’s most celebrated white wine, Vin de Constance has acquired an immense cult following worldwide, gaining favour with Kings and Emperors over the last three centuries.
Grown on the Eastern slopes of Table Mountain, the original rootstock was all but destroyed by the Phylloxera disease in the late 19th century, but resuscitated in the early 1980’s by Klein Constantia (claiming it’s legitmancy from original root stock) and recreated in the original style. The Muscat grapes are ripen on the vine and allowed to raisin, concentrating the sugars, and giving rise to a luscious, syrupy-sweet wine. Magnificent notes of orange peel, dried fruit, and honey leap out of the glass, followed on the palate by syrupy, tropical fruit and nutty characteristics.
Among it’s most renowned devotees, was Napoleon, who it was said preferred it as his wine of choice when in exile on St Helena. Charles Dickens described: ‘the support embodied in a glass of Constantia and a home-made biscuit’, while Jane Austen recommended it for ‘its healing powers on a disappointed heart.
Majestic: 25% any two South African wines.
Vin de Constance 2005 £30 down to £22.50
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