Constantia (wine)
Constantia is a
History
In 1685, the
In 1861, however, the Gladstone government removed empire preferential tariffs, and as a result exports nearly dried up, and the golden era was brought to an end when the vineyards were decimated by phylloxera and powdery mildew,[1] In 1980 Duggie Jooste bought Klein Constantia, redeveloped the farm, and with the help of then winemaker Ross Gower & Professor Chris Orferr of Stellenbosch University created and began selling a new recreated version of the early Constantia wines made from Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains.[5][6]
All three Constantia estates produce a homage to the original recipe, with Groot Constantia being called Grand Constance, "1769" at Buitenverwachting and "Vin de Constance" at Klein Constantia.
In popular culture
- In Sense and Sensibility (1811), Jane Austen's character Mrs Jennings recommends a glass of "the finest old Constantia wine" for the broken-hearted Marianne, on the grounds that it helped her late husband's colicky gout; Elinor, though amused by the incongruity, still drinks the wine to try "its healing powers on a disappointed heart" – her own.[5]
- In Charles Dickens' last (and unfinished) novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Constantia wine is served to the reverend Septimus by his mother. "As, whenever the Reverend Septimus fell a-musing, his good mother took it to be an infallible sign that he ‘wanted support,’ the blooming old lady made all haste to the dining-room closet, to produce from it the support embodied in a glass of Constantia and a home-made biscuit."[7]
- In Charles Baudelaire's Les fleurs du mal poem XXVI entitled Sed non satiata Baudelaire compares the charms of his beloved to the pleasures brought by Nuits-Saint-Georges and Constantia wine: "Even more than Constantia, than opium, than Nuits, I prefer the elixir of your mouth, where love performs its slow dance."[8]
- In A rebours, the protagonist, Floressas Des Esseintes, extols the virtues of Constantia wine and takes some in an attempt to alleviate a weak stomach (Chapter 13).
- German poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock begged forgiveness for preferring "Daughter Konstanzia" to "old Father Johann".
References
- ^ a b c d winepros.com.au The Oxford Companion to Wine. "Constantia". Archived from the original on 8 August 2008.
- ^ Atkin, Tim, The Observer (18 January 2009). "Happy returns". The Guardian. London.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Vin de Constance".
- ^ capeinfo.com Great history of Constantia Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b sawinesonline.co.uk History of Constantia Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Baikoff, Jill. "Old Constantia Wine: Vin de Constance". Retrieved 20 March 2012.
- ^ Charles Dickens The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Chapter X Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ wosa.co.za The Reputation of South African Wines