Produced from the historic South African estate of Klein Constantia, no description seems to come close to accurately portraying the ethereal, otherworldly experience of tasting the one-of-a-kind Vin de Constance. With Decanter declaring "Vin de Constance, one of the world’s most legendary sweet wines, has entered a new chapter of its centuries old existence with the 2012 vintage," this limited offering is a rare opportunity to secure an allocation of multiple vintages over the last decade of the world's leading late harvest Muscat wine beginning with the extraordinary 2012, available in the estate's distinctive 500ml and 1.5L bottles at an equally exceptional price.
Founded in 1684 in the valley north of False Bay and just south of Cape Town, Klein Constantia was first planted by Simon Van der Stel (founder of Stellenbosch), who recognized that the region's decomposed granite soils and cooling maritime breezes were ideal for growing grapes. By the mid-1700s, the Vin de Constance had attracted a fan base that would come to include George Washington, Charles Dickens and Queen Victoria, with author Jane Austen immortalizing its "healing powers" and the exiled Napoleon Bonaparte requesting only a single glass of Vin de Constance on his deathbed. But economic upheavals paired with the decimation of the vineyards by phylloxera in the late 1800s sent Constantia into decline for more than a century, until a portion of the historic original estate was revived in 1986. With the estate's change in ownership in 2010, a modern renaissance has begun, and as Vinous critic Neal Martin declared, Klein Constantia "is undergoing a quiet revolution." Now led by managing director Hans Astrom, formerly at Hess Collection and winemaker Matt Day, whose experience includes Elderton in Barossa Valley, Dancing Hares in Napa, and St. Emilon's Chateau Belefont Belcier, the Vin de Constance is sourced from the estate's 16 hectares of Muscat de Frontignan grapes. Produced without botrytis, Day achieves optimal ripeness by requiring up to 30 passes through the vineyard over the course of the two-month harvest, with the first batches picked to preserve their bright acidity and fermented to dryness for a base wine, while the last grapes are harvested by a special team as individual raisins that have dehydrated on the vine, concentrating sugars. Meticulously blended over time to achieve an integrated balance of sugar, alcohol and acidity, the Vin de Constance is vinified in Klein Constantia's new custom-built cellar with Day limiting the time spent in barrel to three years to enhance freshness, utilizing a mix of new and used French oak, acacia barrels and large format foudres.
Showing amazing consistency yet constantly evolving vintage after vintage, the Vin de Constance is an intense, energetic wine boasting a long and immensely complex finish, balancing inseparable multiple layers of elegant, honeyed sweetness with harmonious acidity. Standing among the greatest sweet wines of the world and continuing to evolve over the next decades, this is an extraordinary opportunity to secure the seductive Vin de Constance at an exceptional price, with multiple vintages offered in a distinctively shaped bottle resembling the original hand-blown design, one that is as unique as the wine itself.
The 2012 Vin de Constance is limpid golden in color. It has a pure honeyed bouquet that blossoms in the glass to reveal irresistible scents of apricot, quince, pressed flowers and saffron, gaining intensity with aeration and turning almost overwhelming after several minutes. The palate is beautifully defined with outstanding acidity and energy. This is wonderfully poised, perhaps more so than the 2016 tasted alongside. Tension on the finish coupled with salinity keeps you returning for more. Outstanding.
97 points, Neal Martin, Vinous (Sep 2020)
Stunningly intense aromatic nose of fresh stem ginger, tangerine and quince. Fabulously balanced sweetness and zingy natural acidity provide the perfect backdrop for a gorgeous flavour spectrum of Seville orange marmalade, honeysuckle and spicy ginger with complex tertiary notes on the effortlessly long finish. The whole ensemble provides enormous precision, purity and pleasure.
97 points, Josh Stimpfig, Decanter (Jun 2016)
Intense, with dried orange peel, nectarine, apricot and kumquat notes laced with a vibrant green tea edge. The long finish picks up a bitter almond hint for added tension, while the unctuous fruit sails through. This is still very youthful and densely packed, so no rush at all. Muscat de Frontignan. Drink now through 2040. 200 cases made.
95 points, James Molesworth, Wine Spectator (Sep 2016)
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