Klein Constantia Vin de Constance

Klein Constantia is a barrel-aged sweet red wine made from the Muscat de Frontignon variety by the Klein Constantia winery in Cape Town, South Africa.

Founded in 1685 by Simon van der Stel, the Cape’s first governor, Klein Constantia is a prestigious South African winery located in Cape Town. A wonderful location overlooking the Constantia valley and False Bay with 146 hectares of vineyards among ancient trees and lush vegetation. The winery is particularly famous for making Vin de Constance, the sweet wine that was a favourite among European aristocracy in the eighteenth century. Production restarted in 1986, underlining its ancient prestige.

Klein Constantia Vin de Constance comes from vineyards overlooking the sea, planted on granite soils and constantly ventilated by the sea breeze. Members of the World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF, the vineyards are worked respectfully to allow cultivation alongside conservation. When the grape reaches optimum ripeness, it is selected and harvested manually.

To make the Klein Constantia Vin de Constance wine, each batch of grapes is kept separate. The riper berries with good acidity are separated and then there are the raisins for sugar concentration. 50% of the wine ages in 500L barrels and 50% in French oak foudres for 36 months with its lees. Finally the different wines are mixed and spend 6 more months resting before being bottled.

Klein Constantia Vin de Constance is one of the most emblematic wines of South Africa. An extraordinary sweet wine with more than 300 years of history that became inspiration for great 19th-century authors like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Klopstock and Baudelaire.