Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve Red 2019

Groot Constantia, located a few kilometres from Cape Town, is the oldest wine estate in South Africa. In 2021 it celebrated its 336th anniversary! The vines are trained on vertical trellises, and vineyard work such as pruning, canopy management and harvesting is done by hand. Pest control is organic, and soil health and weed control are managed naturally. This cuvée is a blend of Bordeaux grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. The grapes of each variety were hand-picked and fermented separately in stainless-steel tanks. The wine then underwent a long maceration of 4 weeks after fermentation to maximise extraction. It was then aged for 15 months in French oak barrels, 75% new, 10% second-fill and 15% third-fill. The final blend gives a wine with intense aromas of blackcurrant, black plum, black cherry, blueberry, blackberry, cocoa, leather, graphite, cinnamon, cedar, vanilla and tobacco. The palate is structured, spicy and smooth, the tannins are firm and the whole is well balanced by acidity. Without doubt a wine with great ageing potential.

The first vines were planted in South Africa by Dutch settlers in the 1650s, although wine production did not really begin to take off until the arrival of French Protestants, in the 1680s, with their skills and their knowledge of viticulture. Stellenbosch is also a historic wine region, with the first vineyards being planted there in the 1690s.



Today South Africa is one of the most important wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere. With over 300 years of winemaking history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old and New Worlds. The majority of wines are produced using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more in common stylistically with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has received international attention and acclaim for its wide variety of styles.



South Africa's wine industry is spread across the lush and rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. Vineyards can also be found in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa's wine regions have a Mediterranean climate, strongly influenced by the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.



The country's signature grape variety is Pinotage, an indigenous cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that is rarely found in quantity in other wine-producing countries. Shiraz (Syrah) is also widely planted, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often combined in a Bordeaux blend). South African Chardonnay, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc have become popular internationally in recent years.