Sauvignon Blanc always comes to the fore on the cusp of the summer season - as a single variety and in flagship blends with Semillon. Recent tastings at Buitenverwachting, Constantia Glen, Groot Constantia and Steenberg have showcased Sauvignon Blanc as the hero white grape of the Constantia Wine Valley - a cool climate appellation that is “the home address” of one of South Africa’s most recognisable wine brands worldwide: Constantia.
Tasting across Constantia, is a learning curve in how the terroir changes from top to bottom in a single small valley made up by a dozen premium wine estates. Winemaker Justin van Wyk of Constantia Glen emphasises, “We’re all trying to do something different in the valley”. Red and white blends are the flagships of Constantia Glen - where vines at the northern end are planted to more red (60%) than white (40%) - whereas farms further down the valley focus more on white varieties.
Over a vertical flight of Constantia Glen Two (after the Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend), Justin comments, “Sauvignon Blanc does very well with cool average temperatures due to the moderating influence of the Atlantic and the cold south-easter. We’ve planted five clones of Sauvignon Blanc in the best sites. I believe this type of white blend is the future of Constantia. Semillon really pushes the flavour concentration. (The 2014 vintage was rated a maiden five stars by Platter’s 2015).
The wine tourism footprint has really grown in the Constantia Wine Valley over the last decade with the emergence of destinations such as Beau Constantia, Eagle’s Nest, High Constantia and Silvermist - alongside established hubs such as Groot Constantia, Klein Constantia, Buitenverwachting and Steenberg. A wine tasting and vintner’s platter with freshly-baked baguettes on the terrace with exquisite views at Constantia Glen attracts over six hundred visitors on Saturdays. On my Constantia rounds, I previewed the new, expanded tasting room and sushi bar which opens shortly for the new season at Buitenverwachting - set in the newly renovated 1796 cellar.
Owner Lars Maack says visitor numbers to Buitenverwachting have grown so much they will have to consider building a new parking area. Sauvignon Blanc is one of the stars of the winery’s portfolio - which won a record 4.5 stars for seven of its wines in Platter’s 2016 Wine Guide - including Hussey’s Vlei Sauvignon Blanc 2015 (its site-specific premium version) and Sauvignon Blanc Constantia 2015. Over a tasting of sublime older vintages of Sauvignon Blanc, Lars asks “Is there a market for older Sauvignon Blanc? No there isn’t. Specific cool sites like Hussey’s Vlei and Iona age well. The vines don’t age well though - and we continuously have to replace old vines. We don’t get green wines here. It takes 25 years to get to know a farm. ”
Winemaker Brad Paton led a tasting of old and new releases of Buitenverwacthing Sauvignon Blanc - including the 100% Maximus, a wooded Sauvignon Blanc flagship - paired to the superb fare Austrian chef Edgar Osojnik has created for two decades at the estate’s fine dining restaurant. The farm is home to one of Constantia’s biggest wine brands, Buiten Blanc, exported as “Beyond Sauvignon Blanc” to the US market. Brad exclaims, “When we harvest Sauvignon Blanc in Constantia, they’re already picking Cabernet Sauvignon in Stellenbosch!” These big food wines went well with a Caesar salad with salmon and sublime porcini consommé with ricotta ravioli. The new luxury accommodation at the manor-house will be another big hit on the farm.
Owned by Graham Beck, Steenberg is a major wine tourism hub in the Constantia Wine Valley - a lifestyle destination with many attractions from the luxury hotel, golf course and spa to two top restaurants, benchmark wine and bubbly, and an iconic tasting centre. Celebrating two decades of wines in 2016, MD John Loubser and cellar master JD Pretorius hosted a maiden vertical flight of their flagship Magna Carta from 2007 - 2015. This benchmark white blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon shows great concentration and longevity. Released only in the best vintages, this wooded blend expresses the fruit purity and minerality of cool-climate terroir of the best sites.
Steenberg makes five expressions of its signature Sauvignon Blanc under various brands from the flagship Black Swan (formerly Reserve) to its premium, Klein Steenberg and Rattlesnake Sauvignon - as well as a superb bottle-fermented MCC. The vertical flight of Magna Carta was a journey of texture, elegance and flavour profile, evolving into the newest 2015 vintage, a wine with more upfront fruit for quicker release. The tasting was paired to a special menu created by new chef Archie Maclean - who created six complementary courses to enhance the nuances of each of the six vintages, from salmon ceviche, crayfish with asparagus, truffle, cauliflower and vanilla ice-cream twice-baked to goat cheese soufflé and Semillon poached pear.
I also enjoyed revisiting Groot Constantia recently, the birthplace of wine in the Cape - and in the new world. The occasion was “the homecoming” of an 1821 vintage of Constance - one of the most famous dessert wines in the world. Found in the old castle cellar of Namur in Belgium in 2011, the hand-blown glass bottle was acquired on auction at a cost of some R25 000. Bearing the seal of Groot Constantia, this historic artefact was unveiled in the newly renovated old Cloete cellar which will host a new museum and tasting facility. The “story in a bottle” of Groot Constantia caused great excitement among media, Eziko historians and custodians at its unveiling.
After storing a time capsule of recent vintages of Groot Constantia, to be opened in 99 years, we enjoyed more recent releases of Groot Constantia wine - including a delightful MCC, Sauvignon Blanc, the iconic Gouverneurs Red and Groot Constance - made from Muscat de Frontignan. Jonkershuis matched the occasion with a superb lunch at Jonkershuis of heirloom beetroot and goat’s cheese, kingklip in a Grand Constance jus with apricots and a lemon meringue tart. Who could ask for more? I was even given a memorable name-tag which read Graham Howe: Few Good Ones”.
The wine route in the city’s backyard, the Constantia Wine Valley is enjoying a renaissance with Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Chardonnay and its cool-climate white and red Bordeaux blends. And as a culinary hub it rivals Stellenbosch and Franschhoek for the country’s gastronomic crown. Constantia is home to chef Scot Kirton’s La Colombe (Eat Out chef of the year in 2015 - rated #2 restaurant in SA, #76 in World’s Top 100) at Silvermist (the single vineyard Sauvignon is rated 4,5 stars), chef Peter Tempelhoff’s Conservatory and Greenhouse at the Cellars-Hohenort (rated #4 in Eat Out Top Ten), Buitenverwachting, Catharina’s and Bistro Sixteen82 at Steenberg, Neil Grant’s Open Door at Constantia Uitsig, chefs Liam Tomlin and Ivor Jones (ex-Test Kitchen) new Chef’s Warehouse at Beau Constantia, Scot’s new Foxcroft at High Constantia, Constantia Glen - and La Parada at Constantia Nek.