Drink Klein Constantia's Vin De Constance before you die! Why?
This was the wine requested by Napoleon while in exile and when on his death bed
Constantia was a legendary sweet wine from the Cape, South Africa. During the 18th and 19th Century all the who's who wanted to drink this sweet elixir and were willing to pay top price for it too. It probably enjoyed more crowned patronage than any other wine.
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| Klein Constantia's deliciously sweet wine Vin de Constance | © kleinconstantia.com |
Napoleon famously guzzled the stuff while in exile on St. Helena at a rate of 30 bottles a month. The founding fathers also enjoyed the stuff. John Adams described it as ‘the most delicious wine in the World’. Jane Austen mentions it in Sense and Sensibility when Mrs Jennings recommends a little Constantia ‘for its healing powers on a disappointed heart’ as well as for colicky gout.
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| The vineyards of Klein Constantia, South Africa | © kleinconstantia.com |
Production of the wine stopped in the late 1880s and the vineyards became derelict. Ownership changed hands a few times but in 1980 the ambitious and courageous Duggie Jooste bought the property, revived the vineyards and set out to discover all he could about the original Constantia. In 1986, he released his first vintage made using the old techniques...a very rare example of an ancient wine style being raised from the dead.
Made from Muscat of Frontignan (aka Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains) and without any botrytis, just like the original Constantia.
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| Shriveled grapes used for making the sweet wine Vin de Constance | © kleinconstantia.com |
Find a bottle of the historic and deliciously sweet wine near you today!
Klein Constantia Vin de Constance natural sweet wine, Constantia, South Africa
(click on the link above to find a bottle of this wine near you!)