ALL ABOUT CONSTANTIA UITSIG

Constantia Uitsig is one of six wine producers nestled in the heart of the historical Constantia Valley, where wine making in South Africa began in 1685, making this one of the oldest remaining appellations in the world.

Constantia Uitsig which means Constantia View, is aptly named for its unique position which offers wide vistas of mountains, sea and vineyards.  With the combination of perfect terroir and human expertise, the noble cultivars flourish to produce wines of outstanding quality

Today Constantia is still seen as a benchmark of South African wine, identified in top-of-mind awareness as one of the fine wine regions outside Europe. The significant awards garnered by producers over the last decade are testimony of the quality and consistently high standards of the wines.

The world-renowned qualities of the valley’s luxury living are probably best epitomised at Constantia Uitsig with its three award-winning restaurants – Constantia Uitsig, The River Café, and La Colombe; boutique-style hotel & spa and top quality wines.  

Constantia Uitsig is privately owned by David and Marlene McCay and Mvelaphanda Holdings (Pty) Ltd.  David and Marlene took ownership of the rundown piece of land in 1988, replanting of the vineyards began in 1990, and the farm has since been restored to its former glory.  Thirty-four hectares are planted with Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Semillon, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with a production of 200 tons and 14 000 cases a year. 

Emphasis is on quality rather than quantity, with a philosophy that wine is made in the vineyard, and that there should be minimum interference with nature. In keeping true to this mission, Constantia Uitsig was one of South Africa’s screwcap pioneers, implementing the select use of screwcaps as early as 2003. It was also one of the leaders in South African wineries to join the ISI (International Screwcap Initiative) in 2006.

Helping Mother Nature to transform her fruit into award-winning wines is André Rousseau who joined Constantia Uitsig in 1997 as viniculturist. In 2003 he took on the complete scientific process “from soil to glass”, growing the wine grapes, making the wine, as well as preparing the wine for marketing.