Day taking Vin de Constance in a fresh direction

Matt Day, Klein Constantia’s young chief winemaker, is taking the jewel in its crown – Vin de Constance – in a fresh direction through a series of tweaks.

Matt Day is taking legendary sweet wine, Vin de Constance, in a fresh direction

Speaking to db at the launch of the 2102 vintage of the sweet wine at Scott’s in Mayfair, Day said:

“Vin de Constance is an amazing wine and by no means am I trying to change it, I’m just trying to improve on a few things to make it that much better – a 1% improvement can make all the difference.

“I want to focus on bringing out the freshness and aromatics in the wine. My main aim is for the wine to be as expressive as possible.

“I don’t want it to display terriary aromas too early on in it’s life, so I’m making a few small tweaks to bring out the fruit and floral character, like leaving it for six months less than usual in our acacia barrels.

“I think the 2012 vintage is a wine that jumps out of the glass, which is what I was hoping to achieve, and the sugar doesn’t stand out on the palate. One thing that does stand out is the balance between delicate perfumed freshness together with the evolved tertiary flavours.

Day described the 2012 vintage – his first at the estate – as “one of our best Vin de Constance vintages ever” as it “expresses all the traits that we’re trying to achieve with Vin de Constance going forward.”

The vintage wasn’t without its challenges – the harvest took a record three months from the end of January until the end of April and was the latest Vin de Constance vintage on record.

“Luckily for me we finished two days before my wedding otherwise I would have been in some serious trouble,” Day joked to db, describing the six-month fermentation process as “very slow and stressful”.

Made from 100% Muscat de Frontignan harvested at 4am, the 2012 vintage offers aromas of apricots, white flowers and orange peel, and is fresh on the palate with a vibrant finish.

Just 18,000 bottles of the wine were made, which will be sold around the world including its key export market of the UK, where it is represented by Mentzendorff.

In a bid to improve upon both Vin de Constance and the six single vineyard Sauvignon Blancs he makes at the estate, Day had 15 hectares of Merlot and Cabernet Franc grubbed up last year in order to be able to fully focus on Muscat de Frontignan and Sauvignon Blanc.

He has also isolated a clone of Muscat de Frontignan that is unique to the estate and is considering adding other varieties once used in the historic wine like Furmint, Chenin Blanc, Semillon and Petit Manseng to the blend.

Napoleon is said to have drunk a bottle of Vin de Constance a day while in exile on the island of St. Helena, and every day in the week leading up to his death.

French poet Baudelaire claimed that only the lips of his lover surpassed the “heavenly sweetness” of South Africa’s “honey-coloured” Constantia wine

And in 1811, the golden elixir was prescribed for Jane Austen’s heroine Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility for its “healing powers on a disappointed heart.”