‘An impactful Vin de Constance that displays both power and intensity alongside a regal elegance and freshness’ – Greg Sherwood, 97/100
‘A sophisticated Vin de Constance that will age beautifully in bottle’ – Neal Martin, 96/100
Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance is synonymous with luxury. South Africa is making some of the finest wines in its history, but long before all the recent 95+ pointers were cracking the headlines there was Vin de Constance – one of the greatest and most sought-after wines the world has ever seen, counting Napoleon and Jane Austen amongst its devoted fans.
This icon continues to captivate palates today and the 2022 is ‘the latest in a run of excellent Vin de Constance releases,’ remarks Tim Atkin MW. It’s the perfect anniversary or birthday gift and will elevate your most cherished moments.
The 2022 vintage enjoyed a warm, dry ripening season in the Constantia Valley with minimal rainfall and excellent sun exposure – ideal conditions for the raisined Muscat de Frontignan grapes to reach uber-ripe intensity and sweetness.
A naturally sweet wine made from unbotrytised grapes (no noble rot), the team passed and picked through the vineyards 18 times. It offers terrific complexity, elegance, haunting aromatics and a detailed palate. ‘There is richness, as you expect from a Vin de Constance, but there is also no sense of heaviness and plenty of tension on the finish,’ says Neal Martin. Under Matt Day’s guidance, Vin de Constance has become even finer and more precise.
Tasting Notes:
‘Coming from a warmer shorter season, the final wine was blended from 18 batches (normally around 25). The 2022 Vin de Constance shows aromatics of freshly melted honey, barley sugar, boiled sweets, passionfruit confit, quince, a gentle sapidity and apple puree nuances with hints of savoury freshly baked apple strudel notes on the nose. The palate is incredibly dense, compact, and tight knit, quite weighty and full bodied in texture, but also incredibly creamy and picante, sweet and plush after an incredible 36 months in 4,200 litre wooden foudre, boasting notes of dried mango, nectarine, lychee, and white peach. This is an impactful Vin de Constance that displays both power and intensity alongside a regal elegance and freshness that bestows the wine with an incredible harmony and balance. Drink on release and over the next 40+ years.’ – Greg Sherwood, MW, 97/100
‘The 2022 Vin de Constance was picked from 15 March until 7 April, with fewer picks since Matt Day said the team is more confident about when and how to pick. There were 18 passes through the vines compared to 30 in the past. There is one week maceration on the skins with pumpovers, then a pied de cuve is made with further fermentation on the skins with inoculated Sauternes strain of yeast. It went through a one or two hour press, with a lot of blending done in the small hours of the morning until all the tanks are around 165g/L residual sugar with 14 degrees alcohol, at which point Day finds that the fermentation stops naturally. It is aged for 18 months in 500-litre barrels with 50% new oak and a further 20 months (slightly longer) in barrel. It has a very pure and perfumed nose with wild honey, yellow fruit, quince and then hints of rose water and white flowers that emerge with time. The palate is viscous on the entry with exquisite balance. There is richness, as you expect from a Vin de Constance, but there is also no sense of heaviness and plenty of tension on the finish. Very precise and full of energy, this is a sophisticated Vin de Constance that will age beautifully in bottle.’ – Neal Martin, Vinous, 96/100‘
Picked in 18 tranches to build complexity in the wine, this is the latest in a run of excellent Vin de Constance releases from the ever-youthful Matt Day. Broader and more exotic than the 2021, with a pH of 3.8, it has notes of honey, crème brûlée and orange marmalade, vanilla-scented 50% new oak, refreshing acidity and a textbook 168 grams of residual sugar.’ – Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2025, 96/100
