Klein Constantia: The Nectar That Seduced Napoleon From 17th-century Cape legend to global dessert wine royalty, this is the story of South Africa’s most poetic estate.

Some wines are legendary because of rarity. Others, because of rebellion. Klein Constantia? It’s famous because emperors wept for it, poets name-dropped it, and time only made it more luminous. If Rousseau’s Pinot is a whisper of terroir, Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance is a love letter—handwritten in Muscat, sealed in gold.

1. A Colonial Dream Turned Liquid Gold (1685–1800s)

Founded in 1685 by Simon van der Stel, the Constantia estate sprawled across Cape Town’s shadowed slopes, with views that look like heaven daydreaming. By the 18th century, Constantia’s sweet wines—made from sun-ripened Muscat de Frontignan—were Europe’s most coveted indulgence.

Napoleon drank it in exile. Baudelaire wrote odes. Louis XVI stockpiled it. Jane Austen let her heroines swoon over it. This wasn’t wine—it was myth.

2. Collapse and Resurrection (Late 1800s–1980s)

Then came disaster: phylloxera, colonial decline, and neglect. The vineyards fragmented. The wines disappeared. For a century, Vin de Constance was a ghost.

Until 1980, when Duggie Jooste purchased the Klein Constantia portion of the original estate. He teamed up with winemaker Ross Gower and historian-philosopher Hugh Johnson. The mission? Bring back the nectar.

They studied 18th-century diaries. Researched soil. Found ancient Muscat clones. And in 1986, they resurrected Vin de Constance—a triumph of research, patience, and total audacity.

3. Wines That Make Time Stop

• Vin de Constance:
  South Africa’s flagship sweet wine. Made from raisined Muscat de Frontignan grapes, harvested by hand over multiple passes to capture optimal ripeness. The grapes are naturally dried on the vine, then gently crushed and fermented in a mix of oak and acacia barrels before aging for years. It offers waves of apricot, citrus peel, ginger, and honey. Decades of aging. Endless poetry. Current winemaker Matt Day continues to refine this iconic wine with remarkable precision and restraint.
• Metis Sauvignon Blanc:
  A dry, electric, Sancerre-inspired white co-created with Pascal Jolivet. Precision, minerality, citrus snap.
• Clara Sauvignon Blanc & Estate Red:
  Elegant, cool-climate expressions—proof that Klein Constantia isn't just history; it’s still innovating.

4. A Vineyard Like No Other

Perched between 70–343 meters above sea level, Klein Constantia’s amphitheater of slopes faces False Bay. Maritime breeze, decomposed granite soils, and old-vine Muscat rows combine to create something rare: a place where sugar, acid, and time find harmony.

It’s not just pretty. It’s scientifically perfect for slow-ripening beauty.

5. Why Klein Constantia Endures

• It’s timeless: You’re drinking the wine that seduced monarchs and authors.
• It’s a comeback story: Forgotten, then fearlessly reborn.
• It bridges old and new: Vin de Constance remains iconic, but the dry wines now compete with the world’s best.

Liber’s Bottom Line

Klein Constantia doesn’t make wine for noise. It makes it for memory—for slow sips, for whispered anniversaries, for the long game.

Drink it when you want to remember what beauty tastes like. When you want to toast the past and invite the future.

To wine as legend. To Constantia, eternal.

Salute.