Overview
Constantia Glen
PO Box 780,
Constantia, Western Cape, 7848
South Africa
+27 21 7956100
Open On:
| Start Date | End Date | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1 | Dec 31 | Closed | 9:00AM-4:00PM | 9:00AM-4:00PM | 9:00AM-4:00PM | 9:00AM-4:00PM | 9:00AM-4:00PM | Closed |
Closed On:
| Start Date | End Date | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 1 | Dec 31 | All public holidays. |
Types of wine: Red Blends, White Sauvignon Blanc
Website: http://www.constantiaglen.com
Email: karl@constantiaglen.com
Proprietor: Tumado Investments
Description:
Looking out across Constantia Glen’s vineyards in the magnificent Constantia Valley, one immediately senses a difference. Cultivated with dedication and a singular vision, Constantia Glen’s 31site-specific blocks are unique in the Constantia Valley. Each block is meticulously hedged, carefully thinned of superfluous shoots and limited to allow only one perfect bunch of grapes per shoot. There is a high regard for precision in the way the vines are established, cared for and harvested that saturates each unique vintage with constant class and a distinctive reference to the preceding year’s climatic influence.
Skilful winemaking has its origins in the vineyard. At Constantia Glen, time-honoured techniques are respected and used wherever they perform best. That said, we welcome new and innovative approaches and employ them with great benefit to precise areas within the winegrowing process. Constantia Glen uses the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) process, which captures both visible and infrared light emitted from vineyards to create a colour index describing variances between cultivated sections. This enables us to identify areas of uniformity within our vineyard plots and therefore areas of comparable ripeness.
Before the onset of harvest we allow for at least 4 phenolic ripeness assays. This permits us to track the physiological ripening of each individual plot and the eventual determination of ripeness acts as a point of departure for tasting. Here we couple known parameters of colour, tannin, sugar and acid accumulation with the desired flavour profile. We harvest if consensus is reached.
The grapes are hand-sorted at four points before reaching the stainless steel fermenting tanks. Hand-harvesting sees the first selection of the very best grapes. After 12 hours in a cooling cube the grapes are bunch sorted before being destemmed using custom-made equipment dedicated to whole berry work. A vibrating sorting table allows for leaf and other material to be identified and removed where after meticulous berry sorting is performed on an illuminated conveyor. Here imperfect grapes are discarded. Only conveyor belts are used to move the berries through this sorting process into the stainless steel fermenting tanks that provide a cool and gentle beginning to the fermentation process.
Constantia Glen makes only three distinctive wines. Because of this each tank can be dedicated to a single lot of grapes. The generous number of tanks at our disposal means that each tank is used only once during harvest. At Constantia Glen we do not believe in rushing the art of winemaking. A long, cool prefermentation maceration allows for the gentle extraction of colour and aroma. Once satisfied with the extraction our winemaker gently warms the tank and initiates spontaneous fermentation, using naturally occurring yeasts. A long, warm and temperature controlled fermentation draws out the structure and balance that we require for inclusion in our fine wines.
When it comes to extraction methods, Constantia Glen employs a careful combination of pump-overs, punch-downs and délestage (rack and return) to ensure a wine that is deep in colour, fruit that is alive and tannins that are soft and persistent. Upon completion of fermentation we retain the wine together with the skins for a further 8 days for added complexity and structural development before the free-run wine flows to our lower-level cellar and into new French oak barrels. All this makes for a wine that is ready for the market early but isn’t compromised in terms of quality or ageing potential.
In a further measured step, the skins are pressed in our state-of-the-art computerised basket press. As is the case with our free-run wine, the press wine is barrel aged, later providing a component that our winemaker may blend in for structure and persistence.
All wine transfer activities after fermentation are carried out in our hoist tank that allows for gravity assisted conveyance. This ensures a gentle handling of the sensitive wine.
Once the wine is safely in barrel, the topping, racking and fining processes begin. Our winemaker constantly monitors the development of each barrel and evaluates the need for racking and fining. The wine ages from 14 to 19 months in new French Oak before it is bottled.
Tours
Constantia Glen
Price(s):
R120.00 - Refundable on purchase of 6 bottles of wine.
Details:
Tours are by appointment only and are conducted by our wine maker. A tour of the bespoke winery and a tasting of our three fantastic wines in the private tasting room with views over the Flase Bay coastline and Table Mountain.
Reservation Details:
Required
Please call +27217956100 to make an appointment.
Tasting Rooms
No tasting room available.
Images
From the vineyard:
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Uploading File...Ratings/Reviews
By: Steven Donaldson Date: 04/19/2010
Rating: 
Outstanding property with the most delicious Sauvignon blanc, the two red wines are the best I had during my tour of Cape Town's finest vineyards.
Wine List
2008 Constantia Glen Sauvignon blanc Vintage - Sauvignon Blanc - White
Retail Price: Not provided.
Tasting Note
Constantia Glen Sauvignon blanc 2008
Alcohol 12%
COLOUR
Pale green flecked with straw. Clear and bright.
NOSE
Aromas of fresh lemongrass and citrus fruits are guided by gauva and flintiness. Peripheral herbal accents offer insight into this assertive wine. A core of minerality links the youthful fruitiness of the nose to those aromas offering confidence in maturity like lemongrass and gooseberry. The nose is complex and sophisticated.
PALATE
The immediate impression is that of concentration and flintiness. This wine has a fine fruit/acid balance and is most certainly a sophisticated wine with its spicy mid-palate and lingering, crisp finish. Yellow fruits abound on the palate and the minerality evident on the nose emerges once again. The bold structure indicates excellent development potential. This is a wine that will age with distinction. A wine to savour on its own or to pair with alfresco summer entertaining.
FOOD PAIRING
Butterfish fillets pan-fried in herby olive oil and topped with crushed olives and thyme.
Grilled salmon with lime butter sauce.
Green asparagus spears blanched and simply dressed with gremolata butter.
We harvested our grapes on 9, 10, 15, and 26 February and our last block came in on 4 March. This represents an interesting departure from our previous harvest dates – 14 February (2007 and 2005) and 27 February (2006). The different and widely spread dates are as a result of new clones coming into bearing and most obviously because of the cool, extended ripening period. Our style has been tweaked with the inclusion of bright lime and lemongrass notes from the SB10 and SB11 clones. These clones also ripened at lower sugar levels and have allowed us to significantly lower the alcohol content in the wine.
The wine making team was also faced with many picking decisions because of the sometimes untimely rain during February. Our decision to harvest certain portions before the onset of rain proved to be the best one as many vineyards in the region suffered losses from Botrytis infection after the rain. We experimented with extended skin contact this season and it has paid off handsomely with a deep lime green colour and exuberant aromatics.
The wine was kept on fine lees for almost three months and during this time developed a rich and rounded palate that perfectly offsets the signature vibrant mineral streak.
Map
Region: Constantia Instructions: Click on a pin to get more details and driving directions.
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