Nectar from the 18th century in your glass

'Shaping up to be the best Vin de Constance yet.' - Tim Atkin

A wine with an amazing track record - and I'm not talking about its popularity with Jane Austen and her contemporaries - the new vintage of Klein Constantia's Vin de Constance is on the horizon. The temptation to use words like legendary is usually easily brushed aside, but in rare instances like this is hard to avoid. All the vintages of Vin de Constance I've tried have had such depth, such amazing complexity, such freshness and palate-coating length. It was one of three bottles that I brought back from a trip to South Africa years ago and subsequent vintages have never failed to amaze.

The 2012 is the first full vintage entirely under the control both of Klein Constantia's new owners and more importantly that of newly promoted winemaker Matt Day. Matt has been at Klein Constantia since 2009 and his time has come. He's immensely talented and his knowledge of the vineyards has paid dividends. His project is to improve both complexity and freshness in the wine and in this cool vintage with a three month period of picking, his extraordinary attention to detail is very evident in the bottle.

This is still a beautifully fresh style of wine and has the signature confit orange and floral characters. This is a wine to enjoy with a myriad of desserts and cheeses, but it is a fabulous indulgence to celebrate success or mitigate disaster. Chill heavily and enjoy in the bath! /CW

'The 2012 Vin de Constance won't be released for another year, but put a note in your diary to buy some when it is. Sweeter and more alcoholic than the 2011, but somehow fresher and brighter too, it's floral, pure and focused, with notes of orange zest, tarte tatin and well integrated oak. Shaping up to be the best Vin de Constance yet. 97 points, Overall Sweet Wine of the year' - Tim Atkin, South Africa report (2015)

Offered subject to remaining unsold