Vin de Constance

Foie gras on brioche with vendage tardive wine jelly.

The 2014 harvest started later than usual due to a long, wet winter. Dry and moderate conditions during ripening lead to effective raisining in late March/ early April.

The wine was aged in a combination of 60% new French oak, Hungarian oak and French Acacia. It was left for a period of 3 years in barrel on the gross lees before racking out and blending. It spent a further 6 months in tank before bottling.

In order to create the perfect blend, a variety of techniques are utilized to optimally produce each component. Throughout the season we harvest in batches, from the riper berries that have great acidity to the raisins for sugar concentration. These batches form the perfect ratio between sugar, alcohol and acidity which allows the wine to stop fermentation naturally and without intervention. This wine is the culmination a great attention to detail, form bunch and berry sorting to barrel aging and cellaring.

Dating back to 1685 and described as one of the world’s most beautiful wine estates Klein Constantia is set amidst ancient trees on the upper foothills of the Constantiaberg with views across False Bay. The perfect location for cool climate wines Klein Constantia produces some of South Africa’s top wines including one of the world’s best natural sweet wines Vin de Constance.