Groot Constantia Rosé 2025
£11.95
The wine
This delicate shell-pink rosé shows wonderful complexity on the nose, with notes of strawberries, raspberries, melon and a hint of jasmine. The fruit flavours are echoed on the refreshing and beautifully balanced palate, through to a clean, dry finish.
A dry rose blended from red and white varieties together, which is unusual and gives it both red-fruit character and aromatic lift. Constantia's maritime position and afternoon sea breeze keep the acidity fresh, which is exactly what a pink wine needs in a warm country.
The producer
Groot Constantia
View all Groot Constantia winesGroot 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.
