Vin de Constance
Napoleon's Golden Nectar 

The Western Cape is considered one of the jewels in the crown of the New World, a rising star of wine producing regions. Take Vin de Constance for example, this exemplary dessert wine has garnered the approbation of contemporary icons such as Alexandre Dumas and Jane Austen!

Vin de Constance has been one of the world’s most revered sweet wines since 1685; such was its acclaim that Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly got through a bottle a day whilst in exile on Elba and had more than 1,000 litres shipped to his home while in exile on St Helena from 1815 until his death in 1821. On his deathbed, Napoleon reportedly refused everything offered to him except for a glass of this.

Vin de Constance 2017
£234 - 6 x 50cl In Bond

£292 incl. VAT & Duty
Carriage is charged at £18 for mainland UK

18 points - Tom Parker (JancisRobinson.com)
Drink 2020 – 2038
Pale lemon gold in the glass. Superbly perfumed with musky white flowers, Turkish delight, white sultanas and heather honey. These notes all follow on the complex and inviting palate. Lovely sweetness on the front and middle are gently washed away by fresh acidity. This lifts the finish and leaves a very fresh and clean perception. Pure and delineated throughout, but there is still a honeyed character with good length.
Tasted: Sept 2020

97 points - Neal Martin (Vinous)
Drink 2021 - 2050
...Just heavenly...
Tasted: May 2021

Available September 2021
Limited quantities available

Use the Button Below to Order
Continue Reading to Find Out More 

Order Now

Constantia was established by Simon Van der Stel (think Stellenbosch) in 1685 as a growing region between False Bay and Hout Bay. Van der Stel planted the first Muscat de Frontignan grapes in the Constantia Valley, thus beginning the legacy of the famous sweet wine of Constantia, best known today as Vin de Constance.

Tragedy struck Constantia Valley in the 1860s, when production of Vin de Constance ceased following the devastation of South African vineyards by the phylloxera epidemic. The new era for Klein Constantia’s 146-hectare Estate began in 1986, when production was revived.

The wine is made from Muscat de Frontignan (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) grapes and has a vivid golden hue. You’ll find tropical fruit on the nose and palate, and perfect acidity to balance the sweetness. The best way to describe it is that it is history in a glass. 

This wine has inspired the greatest gourmands and celebrated artists - as well as acclaimed world leaders:

Marie-Antoinette

Frederick The Great

George Washington

Casanova

Nelson Mandela

Alexandre Dumas

In Sense and Sensibility (1811), Jane Austen's character Mrs Jennings recommends a glass of "the finest old Constantia wine" for the broken-hearted Marianne, on the grounds that it helped her late husband's colicky gout; Elinor, though amused by the incongruity, still drinks the wine to try "its healing powers on a disappointed heart" – her own.

In Charles Dickens' last (and unfinished) novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Constantia wine is served to the reverend Septimus by his mother. "As, whenever the Reverend Septimus fell a-musing, his good mother took it to be an infallible sign that he ‘wanted support,’ the blooming old lady made all haste to the dining-room closet, to produce from it the support embodied in a glass of Constantia and a home-made biscuit." 

Order Now