Groot Constantia

Groot Constantia is the oldest wine estate in South Africa, granted to Simon van der Stel in 1685 and producing wine continuously ever since. It sits on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, close enough to False Bay for the sea air to cool the vineyards through the afternoon.

Its historic reputation rests on Constantia, the sweet wine made here from the late seventeenth century that became one of the most sought-after wines in the world. It was drunk at the courts of Europe, ordered by Napoleon in exile on Saint Helena, and referred to by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. Production collapsed when phylloxera reached the Cape in the 1880s and the wine disappeared for a century before being revived as Grand Constance.

The estate is now a public trust, farming around 90 hectares and open to visitors, with the original Cape Dutch manor house preserved as a museum. The modern range covers Bordeaux varieties, Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc alongside that sweet wine, and the whole property is a national monument.