Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2017

The first wine farm in Africa

In 1685 Governor Simon van der Stel founded a farm on the slopes of the Constantiaberg behind what is now Cape Town. It was the first wine farm in southern Africa. After his death in 1712 the estate was split into three properties, and in 1778 the part that is now Klein Constantia came to the Cloete family, who made the sweet Constantia wine famous across Europe.

For two centuries it was one of the world's great sweet wines. Napoleon had it shipped to him on St. Helena during his exile from 1815 to 1821; one account says bottles came weekly and that on his deathbed he wanted nothing else. Jane Austen wrote it into Sense and Sensibility as a cure for a broken heart, Charles Dickens put it in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Baudelaire wrote that he preferred Constance to opium. The estate also counts Frederick the Great, Louis-Philippe of France and Nelson Mandela among its admirers.

Then it disappeared. The phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century destroyed the vineyards, and the wine was not made again for about a hundred years.

Bringing it back

Duggie Jooste and his family bought Klein Constantia in 1980. A Stellenbosch University professor, Chris Orffer, urged them to recreate the historic wine, and the winemaker Ross Gower took on the job. The first Muscat vines went in in 1982.

Accounts of the first vintage differ. Two sources give 1986 as the first vintage of the modern era, one of them adding that it was released in 1990; another describes the 1986 as an experiment of about 1,000 bottles and the 1987 as the first commercial release. The 1988 was at first refused certification. Because it is made without botrytis, the wine still has no exact official category in South Africa and is certified as a Noble Late Harvest before being declassified to a natural sweet wine.

Gower was followed by Adam Mason and then by Matthew Day, who made the 2017. In 2011 the Czech businessman Zdenek Bakala and the British-based Charles Harman bought the estate, and in 2012 it merged with the Anwilka vineyard.

How it is made

Vin de Constance is made only from Muscat de Frontignan, grown on the lower, southeast-facing slopes of the Constantiaberg at 70 to 100 meters, where the sea wind the locals call the Cape Doctor keeps the vines cool. Half the fruit comes from bush vines planted in 2011 and half from trellised vines planted in 1983.

The first picking makes a base wine of 12.5% to 13% alcohol with good acidity. The rest of the grapes are left to shrivel on the vine, and the harvest is split into as many as 20 separate pickings, each vinified on its own. The most labor-intensive is the essencia, made from raisins picked one by one by a specialist team. There is no noble rot: the sweetness comes from raisining alone. One account says the skins are pressed hard because tannin is part of the style.

After a long fermentation the wine ages for about three years in a mix of new French oak and acacia barrels and some large foudres, then is blended and bottled. Recent production runs between 30,000 and 40,000 bottles a year, by one count. The standard bottle is a 500 ml half-liter, and the estate also sells the 2017 in a 1.5 liter size.

2017: a textbook year in a drought

The 2017 grew during a severe drought in Cape Town: rainfall that year was the lowest since records began in 1933, and the city later drew up plans for a Day Zero when the taps would be shut off. Day said the build-up to harvest was textbook all the same. The autumn of 2016 was hot and dry, winter came late and mild, and a cold September made budburst uneven, but the summer was near perfect for flowering and berry set, with cold nights, moderately warm days and cooling winds.

The pickings stretched over two months and were kept in 20 separate batches. The first, from the bush vines, came in at just over 18 Balling, or about 7.5% to 8% potential alcohol. The finished wine has 13.97% alcohol, almost identical to the 2016 on alcohol, sugar and acidity.

The 2017 was released in September 2020 to strong reviews. James Suckling gave it 97 points and called it sensational. Wine Enthusiast gave it 96, and Decanter and Vinous each gave 95; Neal Martin of Vinous called it sublime and one of the easiest sweet wines to drink in its youth. Jamie Goode called it one of the world's great sweet wines.

The numbers

Grape

Muscat de Frontignan

Alcohol

13.97%

Pickings

20 batches over two months

Annual production

About 30,000 to 40,000 bottles (500 ml), by one count

James Suckling

97

Wine Enthusiast

96

Decanter / Vinous

95 each

Timeline

1. 1685

   Simon van der Stel founds the Constantia estate, the first wine farm in southern Africa.

2. 1712

   Van der Stel dies and the estate is divided into three.

3. 1778

   The Cloete family takes over the land that becomes Klein Constantia.

4. 1815

   Napoleon begins his exile on St. Helena, where he is sent Constantia wine.

5. 1980

   The Jooste family buys Klein Constantia.

6. 1982

   The first Muscat vines of the revival are planted.

7. 1986

   Ross Gower makes the first modern Vin de Constance.

8. 2011

   Zdenek Bakala and Charles Harman buy the estate.

9. 2017

   The 2017 is picked in 20 batches over two months during Cape Town's driest year on record.

10. Sep 2020

    The 2017 is released after about three years in barrel.

11. May 2021

    Wine Enthusiast scores the 2017 96 points.

12. Jun 2021

    James Suckling scores it 97.

The world in 2017

• 2017

  Cape Town records its lowest rainfall since 1933, deepening a three-year drought.

• Mar 29, 2017

  The United Kingdom triggers Article 50 to begin leaving the European Union.

• May 7, 2017

  Emmanuel Macron is elected president of France.

• Aug 21, 2017

  A total solar eclipse crosses the entire contiguous United States.

• Sep 15, 2017

  The Cassini spacecraft ends its mission by diving into Saturn.

• Nov 2017

  Robert Mugabe resigns after 37 years leading Zimbabwe.

• Feb 1, 2018

  Cape Town limits residents to 50 liters of water a day.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2017 is number 98 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (80 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Vin de Constance is sold in 500 ml bottles, not the usual 750 ml.
• Baudelaire wrote that he preferred Constance to opium.
• There is no noble rot in it: the sweetness comes only from grapes shriveling on the vine.
• South Africa's rules have no exact category for it, so it is certified as a Noble Late Harvest and then declassified.
• Part of the 2017 was aged in acacia barrels, which let in less oxygen than oak.
• The wine went unmade for about a century after phylloxera wiped out the vineyards.