Constantia’s come a long way since the 1600s with plenty of dry whites and reds as good as the sweets these days |

Constantia’s come a long way since the 1600s with plenty of dry whites and reds as good as the sweets these days

11/2013 Mike Froud Leave a comment

NOTWITHSTANDING Commander Jan van Riebeeck’s modest vineyards first in the Dutch government’s gardens up the road from the castle and then in Bishopscourt and Wynberg, it was in Constantia that South Africa’s wine industry really got going… History books have it that the first wine for which Van Riebeeck claimed credit was made in the 1650s but that the country’s first good nectar to speak of was thanks to the first governor of the Cape, Simon van der Stel, who oversaw the first vine plantings in Constantia some 20 to 30 years later. Van der Stel’s knowledge of growing grapes and making wine was substantially greater than that of his predecessor, although the offtake of Cape wine surely also had something to do with the arrival of French Huguenot immigrants in the late 1600s and beginning of the 1700s.

Groot Constantia, Grande Dame of the SA wine industry and top performer of late

By the 18th century the sweet wine of Constantia was a hit with the rich and famous, politicians, artists and writers of Europe. At the time of his death in 1717, Van der Stel’s Constantia wine farm stretched from Bishopscourt to Steenberg, and it was a consequence of the property’s subdivision after his passing that the farms Klein Constantia and Groot Constantia came about – the latter including Van der Stel’s buildings but the former just as much associated with the dessert wines so sought-after in England, Europe and later America.

By the 1780s Constantia continued to boast a couple of the best wineries in the Cape winelands which had spread to Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and elsewhere. By the 1820s, wines from the area were increasingly popular at the tables of kings and queens, emperors even, and by the second-half of the 19th century Groot Constantia was winning medals at various prestigious exhibitions in Paris, Vienna, Melbourne and Philadelphia – Buitenverwachting having by then developed into another of Constantia’s noteworthy cellars.

Jump to the last quarter of the 20th century and the number of prestigious wine brands in the area had grown to include Steenberg of Tokai and Constantia Uitsig. And more than 10 years into the 21st Century we now have a number of newcomers warranting attention from serious wine lovers and visitors to this neck of the Cape winelands – Beau Constantia, Constantia Glen and Eagles’ Nest joining the boutique producers High Constantia and Vins d’Orrance.

During the past few years – 2011 to 2013 – we’ve seen a resurgence of Groot Constantia across the board, solid performances from Buitenverwachting and, of the newcomers, plenty of applause for Eagles’ Nest. Of course, Klein Constantia continues to shine with their dessert wine and has also impressed with Bordeaux-style reds. Steenberg is right up there among the country’s very best white wine cellars. Whereas Constantia Glen has been proving to be a top performer in the red blend classes of late. No ways is this area still only about the sweet stuff – although man is that good too!

CURRENT PICK OF CONSTANTIA

RED WINE
Constantia Glen Five (blend)
Eagles’ Nest Merlot
Eagles’ Nest Shiraz
Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve Red
Groot Constantia Pinotage
Groot Constantia Shiraz
KC Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
Klein Constantia Cabernet Sauvignon

WHITE WINE
Buitenverwachting Chardonnay
Buitenverwachting Husseys Vlei Sauvignon Blanc
Buitenverwachting Maximus (blend)
Constantia Glen Two (blend)
Constantia Uitsig Sauvignon Blanc
Eagles’ Nest Viognier
Groot Constantia Chardonnay
Groot Constantia Sauvignon Blanc
Steenberg Magna Carta (blend)
Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc Reserve
Steenberg Semillon