Klein Constantia’s emblematic Vin de Constance 2016 has been released. One of the most prestigious and widely admired sweet wines in the world, we recommend it unreservedly. There are very few wines of this quality, complexity and excitement, anywhere in the world, offered at such a fair price. In the case of the 2016, this is a brilliant sweet wine that can be enjoyed immediately or cellared for 20+ years, all for less than £240 per case.
Klein Constantia is an exceptionally beautiful estate with uniquely cool, high elevation vineyards posited in the foothills of Table Mountain. Facing the Atlantic, and braced by continuous ocean winds, Constantia is one of the true cool climate regions in South Africa. Vin de Constance is produced from the Muscat de Frontignon grape, harvested by hand in numerous passes at different levels of ripeness, balancing all those beautiful sugars and acidities with no botrytis influence whatsoever. For this reason, the wine retains a beautifully crisp, floral and lightly honeyed profile with crystalline fruit and oodles of energy. Now fully under the guidance of Matt Day, the wines are more precise than they have ever been, as he favours picking on the earlier side to retain freshness, with far greater attention to detail and huge investment in the cellar. Vintages 2014, 2015 and now 2016 are evidence of the steady incremental improvements that Matt and team have put in place across the whole estate, and each year we see the wines rise to a new level. To those who have not yet tasted these young wines, they have less of the heavy profile of yesteryear, instead they are purer and racier, but with an emphasis on the naturally exuberant, perfumed fruit that has kept Vin de Constance at the top of the sweet wine pyramid for over 300 years.
Read MoreThe demand for Vin de Constance is ever-increasing and this latest release is definitely going to be the most sought-after yet. We advise buying early to secure what you can.