South African wine was celebrated in style just a few minutes walk from London’s Borough Market last month with a Constantia Glen tasting by Alexander Waibel, amiable co-owner of the estate, who moved to this amazing area of Cape Town in 1995 in the footsteps of his grandfather. Our gracious host for the evening was Charlotte Coetzee from the South African Chamber of Commerce. The vibrant organisation, led by the dynamic Sharon Constançon, is an exciting blend of professionals and businesses with interests in both the UK and South Africa. This was the first event as part of a commendable initiative spearheaded by Charlotte for the SACC to help promote the best of South Africa’s wine industry.
Constantia Glen’s position between the magnificent Constantiaberg and world-famous Table Mountain ranges on predominantly north-east facing slopes benefits from critical exposure to late afternoon sun. This enables the slow ripening of its grapes that are transformed into amazing wines by a team led by winemaker Justin Van Wyk. Alexander introduced the Constantia Glen estate with four delightful wines:
Constantia Glen Sauvignon Blanc
A light Sauvignon Blanc of low acidity, light straw in colour, with an appealing crisp and fresh taste. Alex notes the elderflower and gooseberry while I appreciate the pleasantly citrus and grassy taste of this wine that has an appealing medium finish. It is certainly ideal for everyday drinking, really pleasant for any social gathering and super for a sundowner. Justin Van Wyk notes that 2018 was an ‘excellent’ year for Constantia Glen with cool temperatures and a long ripening season. Constantia Glen Sauvignon Blanc 2019 received a 5-star rating (95 points) in the revered Platter’s South African Wine Guide (2018) and was awarded 91/100 points in a blind tasting by the respected editors of the Wine Spectator magazine.
Constantia Glen 2
A blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon (making up 32 per cent of the wine) that is barrel fermented for seven months. Alex explains: “We don’t want to ‘over-oak’ our white wine. Wood should be there to emphasis the wine not to over-oak the taste.” The result is for 2018 was a crisp wine described by Justin Van Wyk as having freshness, fruit concentration and ‘remarkable acidity’. Members of the Chamber sampling the wine certainly seemed to respond positively to this blend that is ideal for fish, pork or asparagus. Platter’s South African Wine Guide (2019) gave this a 4.5-star rating (93 points).
Constantia Glen 3
This is a really sensational vintage of the classic Constantia blend of the three most revered Bordeaux varieties – Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. According to Alex: “2015 was a great year” and Justin Van Wyk agrees: “2015 was a remarkable vintage for red varieties at Constantia Glen.” The wine is a real treat with a sophisticated silky elegant combined with rich dark-fruit flavours. My preference would be to savour this wine on its own though Constantia’s website suggests pairing this with lamb. Constantia Glen 3 received a really well-deserved Silver Medal and 92 points at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards.
Constantia Glen 5
Alex introduced this final wine with flourish: “We knew we had something special on your hands. We knew we had something great.” A classic Constantia Glen blend of the five famous Bordeaux varieties – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Huge care goes in to taking the best, hand-selected grapes to make 300 barrels of Constantia Glen 5. The result is a very smooth wine that Justin Van Wyk describes as having ‘fine-grain tannins’ and a ‘lively acidity’. According to Alex: “We think it will age beautifully: 25 years no problem.” The award of 4.5 stars (94 points) in the Platter’s South African Wine Guide was deserving and a splendid way to end this short but delightful tasting.
