When looking back at South Africa’s history, there’s one wine that put us on the world map, whose reputation has yet to be surpassed by even the most stellar examples produced today. No, it’s not a Pinotage, or a classic Stellenbosch red. It’s not even a cult innovation hailing from the Swartland. It’s sweet wine.
When wine was first produced in South Africa, it wasn’t for the romance of vineyards or the epicurean delights of the Dutch. Our wine origins are far more medicinal: Jan van Riebeek believed that wine could prevent scurvy. By all accounts of the sailors, scurvy would have been a more favourable option. It was only when governor of the Cape, Simon van der Stel, arrived in 1679 that viticulture and winemaking took a serious upward trajectory. He planted a vineyard on his farm, Constantia, laying the groundwork for a wine that would make the history books.
Made from Muscat d’ Alexandrie and Frontignan, Grand Constance became a status symbol for European nobility in the 18th and 19th centuries, trumping Sauternes like d’Yquem, as well as the famous sweet wines from Tokaji and Madeira. Marie Antoinette, Frederick the Great of Prussia, George Washington, and Otto von Bismarck indulged in the “sweet, luscious and excellent dessert wine”. It was delivered to Buckingham Palace and Napolean Bonaparte – if Jane Austin is to be believed, Grand Constance could even cure a broken heart. Grand Constance reigned supreme for 150 years until production ceased towards the end of the 19th century for a multitude of reasons: trading restrictions, vine diseases and changing fashion and taste. However, the fine Constantia tradition was revived with the release of its 1986 maiden vintage and celebrated to huge critical acclaim ever since.
Simultaneously – and less known – Grand Constance had a red counterpart made from Pontac grapes (one of the the few red grapes with red flesh). In 1885, the International Exhibition in Paris took place on the newly completed Champs–Élysées boulevard, showcasing a bottle of Constantia Pontac, winning a silver medal and declared leader in its class. Recently, a 160-year-old bottle was discovered in the small village of Doullens, France, and returned to Groot Constantia.
Rare bottles of the famous Constantia wines have continued to surface around the world with shards and bottle seals dating as far back as 1774. They’ve been found under the ocean outside Stockholm, in the cellar of a castle near Belgium and on a beach in the Delaware Bay. An unopened bottle of Grand Constance was recently sold at a Strauss & Co auction for R967,300. In fact, that same auction saw another rare and historic bottle of sweet wine sold: Joubert Family Muscat d’Alexandrie 1800, known as South Africa’s oldest living wine, as this 115-litre barrel of Muscat has been tended for more than 200 years and topped up around every five years with only the best muscat. The Wine Advocate’s Neal Martin described it as “fresher than some South African wines two centuries younger!” A 275ml bottle sold for R91,040.
Today, sweet wines remain an integral part of South African wine culture, requiring huge amounts of winemaking skill. The most common production methods include selective late harvest – as with Vin de Constance – and the partial drying of grapes, as well as grapes infected with Botrytis cinerea, or noble rot. The concentrated flavours of these sweet grapes result in intense, layered wines with decadent notes of honey and dried fruit.
Paired with a variety of foods from sweet to unsuspecting savoury, we suggest speaking to one of our sommeliers for a taste of our historic sweet wines.