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| Explore the understated joys of the Constantia Wine Route |
| 28 July 2010 by Gad Kaplan |
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| Wisdom sometimes comes from unexpected places. During a session with my
foot doctor it came up that he was partly French and into wine.
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"What kind of wines do you like?" I asked him. He told me that "he tended to drink wines such as Cape Point Vineyards and especially wines from the Constantia region as wants to support local wines and lives in the area". This deceptively insightful comment got me thinking. By local wines we South Africans automatically think "Western Cape" but from a French perspective there are regions within regions.
When a MacDonald's fast food outlet was opened in Rome an enraged Italian started the now world famous Slow Food Movement. This movement promotes not only leisurely meals but even more importantly "regionalism". Eating and drinking is not only about pleasure it has ecological implications and the fact is that encouraging a regional awareness in the consumer can go a long way to helping to preserve our environment.
Back to the Constantia wine region (technically a ward and not a region) it boasts many positive attributes both for locals and tourists. It is small and compact. It is a quick drive from the city centre as opposed to wine areas such as Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. It is stunningly beautiful in a different way from the other South African wine hotspots. With its lush, green almost pastoral landscape one could almost be in England save for the powerful surrounding mountains that say "Africa". Most importantly, all its wineries produce wines of a very high standard. And as opposed to many mammoth wine operations such as one finds in areas such as Nederburg in Paarl, they are relatively small scale and intimate.
One of these is High Constantia. Although its first bottling was in 2000 I first discovered its wines by chance with its 2005 Clos Andre Cap Classique. Its lovely biscuit flavours and elegance impressed me and so I went to see the owner and winemaker David van Niekerk. Like many South African winemakers David has a macho persona (he is a big game fisherman but assures me that he tags and releases!) but his bubbly is beautifully feminine and refined. In my opinion he makes one of the top Cap Classique's in the country. His current 2007 offering sells from the cellar for R197 a bottle. It sounds like a lot of money but considering that entry level Champagne can easily cost R300 a bottle or more it represents excellent value.
High Constantia also produces some fine reds. The pick of the bunch is their Cabernet Franc 2004 with beautiful typical Cab Franc aromas and good value at R135 and David's jewel in his red wine crown, his Sebastiaan Bordeaux Blend, the 2004 vintage selling for R197 a bottle. This is an incredibly refined yet powerful wine that will reward long term cellaring. The Sebastiaan 2003 received four and half stars in the John Platter wine guide.
The Constantia wine region is better known for its whites than its reds. Particularly, it's elegant but long-lived Sauvignon blanc. A 1996 Klein Constantia Sauvignon blanc that I drank recently was still drinking perfectly. And because they are generally unwooded they tend to be good value for money. High Constantia's 2008 Sauvignon blanc selling for R85 a bottle. Semillon is another important white grape variety in the Constantia valley with the Constantia Uitsig 2007 Semillon garnering 5 stars in John Platter. And of course, Klein Constantia is famous for its iconic Muscat dessert wine, Vin de Constance. The Constantia valley's reds are also in my opinion underrated. They are just more understated than say Stellenbosch?'s more masculine reds. Buitenverwachting's Christine being a fine example.
Another attractive feature of the Constantia valley is her excellent restaurants. La Colombe (021 794-2390) on Constantia Uitsig and Buitenverwachting (021 794-3522) at Buitenverwachting wine farm, being world class. Returning to High Constantia, to get there drive as if you are going to Groot Constantia. It lies in her mammoth shadow just before you get there on the right hand side. For more information call High Constantia on (021) 794-7171. And help support Cape Town's local wineries.
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