Visiting Constantia (1) – Klein Constantia and making Vin de Constance

south africa videos

Visiting Constantia (1) – Klein Constantia and making Vin de Constance

On Friday most of the judges from the Top 100 visited two wineries in nearby Constantia. First up, Klein Constantia, who make the wonderful sweet wine Vin de Constance. Winemaker Adam Mason explained how the Vin de Constance was made from the 10 hectares of Muscat de Frontignan vines on the property.

First, one block – prone to sour rot because the birds attack the grapes if they are left too long – is harvested to make a dry wine that acts as a base.

Then pickers go out through the vineyard and select just the raisined berries – these would otherwise be lost by the time the main harvest takes place. These are fermented separately. They are picked in 1 kg buckets.

Then the naturally dried, late harvest grapes are picked. They’re fermented on the skins, with manual punchdowns. This helps add phenolic depth to the wine, and also helps with juice yield from the raisined grapes. Sam Harrop had a go at punching down the cap on one of these fermenters.

The final wine is blended, sometimes with a little of a previous vintage used as a sort of seasoning. It’s a naturally sweet wine (not fortified) and has impeccable balance and complexity. And it ages well.

There’s a short film of the visit here:

2 Comments on Visiting Constantia (1) – Klein Constantia and making Vin de ConstanceTagged , ,
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

2 thoughts on “Visiting Constantia (1) – Klein Constantia and making Vin de Constance

  1. The vin de constance is a wine I still have not tasted. I bought a bottle of the 2004 a few years ago and it has been lying in my cupboard for a few years now. I’m still waiting for the right time to open it though. Am hoping it doesn’t let me down as the wine has a huge reputation to live up to. Have a friend coming out from the UK this week end and he works for Majestic in the Uk and really appreciates his wine so maybe I’ll open it up in the next two weeks…..

  2. I suggest you chill it down to about 10-11 degrees celsius beforehand, and serve it with a nice gorgonzola cheese and perhaps glace figs.

    I hope it lives up to your expectations!
    Kind regards,
    Adam.

Leave a Reply

Back To Top