Vin de Constance – a vertical

Vin de Constance’s reputation precedes it: it is the wine lauded by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Napoleon, the wine that, at one time, people clamoured for in preference even to Tokaji and Yquem. Thanks to phylloxera, however, the glory days of this South African nectar were cut short in the late 19th century and, despite its historical réclame, it remained largely forgotten until the 1980s. You can see a map of the Constantia wine region south of Cape Town that is responsible for it  here.)

Klein Constantia revived the legend, and owners Duggie and Lowell Jooste released the...