Groot Constantia is no stranger to history, and it was very special to join them to celebrate the massive achievement of the 1821 Grand Constance hitting the lights out at the recent Strauss Auction when a single bottle, owned by the Malan family, hit a record R967 300!
The Constantia valley is where it all started and the farm has been divided up into smaller farms over the years, and the making of Grand Constance has changed over the years.
At the recent celebrations at Groot Constantia, we tasted through a few special vintages of the more current Grand Constance; the 2013, 2017 and the older 2005 which was simply delicious. There is less demand these days for sweeties and stickies but I love them. Matching it with a blue cheese was the best.
Boela Gerber, winemaker at Groot Constantia, talks about how tough it is to press the dry Muscat de Frontignan grapes after they wait for them to hit 40Balling!
And also how the styles of wine-making have evolved over the years
Before our tasting, we were entertained by the very animated viticulturist Floricius Beukes, educating us on how they are moving towards more natural farming and using cover crops of wheat and radishes, and talked about the impact of ants and mealy bugs. Floricius really should be in education - his energy and vitality are a delight.
See more pics HERE
Very special to taste a delicious set of stickies from one of the Cape's oldest wine farms.