Klein Constantia (South Africa)

Klein Constantia is located in Constantia, above Cape Town in South Africa. The 146-hectares estate originally formed part of ‘Constantia’, a vast property established in 1685 by Simon van der Stel, the first governor of the Cape. The first vines were planted in 1652 and in 1659, Vin de Constance is one of only three wines from the southern hemisphere included among the “44 greatest wines in the world”. The first international shipment of Constantia took place in 1726. Soon, it becomes a favourite among European nobility, including Prussian Emperor Frederick the Great, whose cellar contained 409 bottles of ‘Capp Constancia” in October 1777. At Versailles, the cellar of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette contained 2,634 bottles of ‘Vin du cap de Constance’ in November 1782. Lambertus Johannes Colyn took over the estate in 1798 and had a great understanding of sweet winemaking; in his journal he describes everything from soil preparation (one basket of manure is used for four vines) through pest control to fining (each cask with a basin of sheep or goat’s blood). Napoleon Bonaparte, while in exile on the island of St Helena, enjoyed up to a bottle of Vin de Constance daily. He even reportedly requested a glass on his deathbed, refusing all other food and drink offered to him. However, in 1872, Constantia winemaking ceased due to labour shortages following the abolition of slavery, the arrival of powdery mildew, and also the market’s taste in wine shifting from sweet to dry. In 1980, Duggie Jooste buys Klein Constantia and decides to revive the farm to its former winemaking glory. The first modern Klein Constantia vintage of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon are released from 1986, followed by the release of Vin de Constance in 1990. Sustainable changes have been operated from 2003, and the estate is sold in 2011 to Czech-American investor Zdenek Bakala and UK-based businessman Charles Harman. In June 2012, celebrated Bordeaux wine personalities, Bruno Prats and Hubert de Boüard, merged their Stellenbosch based farm “Anwilka” with Klein Constantia.