.jpg?w=1)
1 bottle per lot
Details
RARE PRE-PHYLLOXERA CONSTANTIA
Lying at Christie's
Vin de Constance--Vintage 1791
Chipped wax capsules. Lot 530 level base of neck. Lot 531 level top shoulder, slight signs of seepage
The sweet wines of Constantia have long been admired throughout the world. They rose to fame in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Jane Austen recommended Constantia for "its healing powers on a disappointed heart." The wine consoled Napoleon in exile and thrilled royalty and discerning oenophiles, rivalling the great Sauternes.
Their history dates back to the very beginning of wine production in South Africa. In 1685, Simon Van de Stel chose the cool maritime climate of False Bay in the southern Cape for his Constantia Estate. It was during the ownership of the Cloete family, with the finest winery in the Cape and the planting of Frontignac,Pontac,red and white Muscadelle and Chenin Blanc at Groot Constantia, that the wine's fine reputation was firmly established.
Unfortunately, the arrival of phylloxera in the late 19th century brought devastation and bankruptcy. The vineyard was sold to the government, thus ending the production of this magnificent wine.
It was not until 1980 that production was restarted, the aim being to recapture the style of the old Constantia that is offered for sale here. The two bottles have come from the cellar of the Duke of Northumberland, verified from cellar records and originally sold at Sotheby's in the the early 1980s.
1 bottle per lot
Lying at Christie's
Vin de Constance--Vintage 1791
Chipped wax capsules. Lot 530 level base of neck. Lot 531 level top shoulder, slight signs of seepage
The sweet wines of Constantia have long been admired throughout the world. They rose to fame in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Jane Austen recommended Constantia for "its healing powers on a disappointed heart." The wine consoled Napoleon in exile and thrilled royalty and discerning oenophiles, rivalling the great Sauternes.
Their history dates back to the very beginning of wine production in South Africa. In 1685, Simon Van de Stel chose the cool maritime climate of False Bay in the southern Cape for his Constantia Estate. It was during the ownership of the Cloete family, with the finest winery in the Cape and the planting of Frontignac,Pontac,red and white Muscadelle and Chenin Blanc at Groot Constantia, that the wine's fine reputation was firmly established.
Unfortunately, the arrival of phylloxera in the late 19th century brought devastation and bankruptcy. The vineyard was sold to the government, thus ending the production of this magnificent wine.
It was not until 1980 that production was restarted, the aim being to recapture the style of the old Constantia that is offered for sale here. The two bottles have come from the cellar of the Duke of Northumberland, verified from cellar records and originally sold at Sotheby's in the the early 1980s.
1 bottle per lot