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South Africa

Constantia

450 ha under vine

Soils
Weathered granite on the cool slopes of the Constantiaberg
Climate
Cool maritime, fanned by False Bay breezes below Table Mountain

On the map

Constantia — 450 haMendoza — 150 000 haCentral Valley — 120 000 haNingxia — 40 000 haMarlborough — 29 000 haColumbia Valley — 25 000 haSonoma County — 24 000 haNapa Valley — 18 000 haPaso Robles — 16 000 haStellenbosch — 15 000 haWillamette Valley — 11 500 haBarossa Valley — 11 500 haMaipo Valley — 11 000 haSwartland — 10 000 haCanelones — 7 500 haMcLaren Vale — 7 000 haCasablanca Valley — 6 000 haMargaret River — 5 800 haNiagara Peninsula — 5 500 haClare Valley — 5 500 haCoonawarra — 5 700 haHawke's Bay — 5 000 haFinger Lakes — 4 000 haOkanagan Valley — 3 000 haHunter Valley — 2 500 haYarra Valley — 2 500 haTasmania — 2 000 haCentral Otago — 2 000 haConstantiaMendozaCentral ValleyNingxiaMarlboroughColumbia ValleySonoma CountyNapa ValleyPaso RoblesStellenboschWillamette ValleyBarossa ValleyMaipo ValleySwartlandCanelonesMcLaren ValeCasablanca ValleyMargaret RiverNiagara PeninsulaClare ValleyCoonawarraHawke's BayFinger LakesOkanagan ValleyHunter ValleyYarra ValleyTasmaniaCentral Otago
Blob size ≈ vineyard area · approximate locations · coastlines from Natural Earth

The oldest wine estate in the New World and the source of a legend: from the 1680s, the sweet Muscat wine of Constantia — Vin de Constance — was shipped to the courts of Europe and prized by Napoleon, Frederick the Great and Jane Austen's characters alike, ranking beside Tokaji and Sauternes as one of the great sweet wines of history.

Phylloxera and war killed it off, and for a century it survived only in legend, until the estate revived Vin de Constance in the 1980s. Today this cool, maritime pocket below Table Mountain makes that historic sweet Muscat once more, alongside crisp Sauvignon Blanc — a living link to the dawn of Cape wine.

The vineyard

Indicative share of plantings

The wines

Vin de Constance Sweet white

Through time

Indicative presence index, 0–100Origins & Antiquity — 0The Monastic Middle Ages — 0Exploration & the Fortified Age — 40Classifications & the Golden Age — 85Phylloxera & the World Crises — 30The Modern & New World Era — 55Antiquity0500150017001875195055
Exploration & the Fortified Age 1500 Classifications & the Golden Age 1700 Phylloxera & the World Crises 1875 The Modern & New World Era 1950