Sauvignon Blanc

Tuna Nicoise salad or grilled kingklip with olive and caper salsa

The 2024 harvest was certainly a fascinating one, as it was the earliest harvest season that we have ever had at Constantia Glen. Picking of our Sauvignon blanc grapes kicked off the harvest on 7 February 2024, which is a good 2 weeks earlier than normal for us. This was particularly fascinating, because the preceding winter was one of the coldest and wettest winters that we experienced for at least a decade. The earlier ripening season can be attributed to a very dry and warm summer that followed the big winter rains of 2023, and this bode very well for ripening of the grapes and development of very concentrated flavours in the grapes. The dry summer and slightly warmer-than-usual ripening environment meant smaller berries and a reduced crop, but the flavours at the time of picking were intense and concentrated. The growing season was also quite windy, which gave us smaller canopies that allowed for good sunlight penetration and air movement in the bunch zone to ensure excellent conditions for the maturation of very healthy grapes. The white grape harvest ended with the picking of the Sémillon grapes that make up 8% of this carefully crafted wine on 29 February 2024.

The wine was then matured on the lees for 8 months in the stainless-steel tanks, before it was stabilised and bottled on 23 October 2024.

The grapes for this classically styled, Constantia Sauvignon blanc are all grown on the estate and hand-harvested in the early hours of the morning. After a few hours of cooling in a cold room, the grapes are destemmed, crushed and left for anything from 2 to 18 hours for the juice to soak on the grape skins before being pressed. Post-settling, the clean juice was fermented in stainless-steel tanks at a constant cool temperature of 14 degrees Celsius.

Ideally located below Constantia Nek just moments from the bustling Cape Town city centre Constantia Glen is a picturesque boutique wine estate producing ultra-premium cool climate wines. The 60 hectare property situated at an altitude of 130 – 270 metres above sea level has a mere 29 hectares under vine with production of our wines limited to 120 000 bottles per annum.