Meet the A team at Constantia Glen
As I arrived at Constantia Glen I could not have been met by a group of more warm and welcoming individuals (one of them having four legs and a fluffy tail). The Constantia Glen Team could not have been more welcoming in showing me around their incredible farm.
Justin, the head winemaker, is a friendly guy who finished his Studies at the University of Stellenbosch, as many of the other farmers on Constantia do. Megan the assistant winemaker is full of fun and also Studied Viticulture in Stellenbosch. Etienne, the farm manager, could not have been friendlier. He even lent me a charger so my battery wouldn’t die to conduct the interview.
Justin is from a sheep farm in Beaufort West, which is Testament to his friendly character and helpful nature. Justin’s interest for viticulture was sparked when he did his VAC work at Groot Constantia as a Grade 11 boy. From there, there was no looking back from the world of wine.
The Constantia Community
When asked about his relationship with the other wine farmers I could not have got a better response. “Within Constantia, there isn’t any competition between the wine farms. “ We like to help each other out, share our knowledge and share our ideas “.
Once a month the wine farmers join up for a tasting session where they taste international wines. Just to make sure they are on top of their game. On Fridays, they have Burger and Beer day. Sounds like a pretty fabulous community to me. I wish I was a wine maker.
The art of growing grapes
Being a newcomer to the viticulture industry, the art of growing grapes continues to fascinate me. Constantia Glen grows their vineyards in two types of soil. The farm is split into three different areas. Two of these areas are made up of decomposed granite, where the third is made up of decomposed sandstone on clay. This type of soil retains moisture and enables the farm to be a completely dry land farm i.e. the vineyards rely solely on natural rainfall. This means that Constantia Glen do not irrigate at all. .
Justin, Head winemaker at Constantia Glen
Constantia Glen is more planted to the Red Grape Variety. The wine production stands at about a 70: 30 ratio. Red wine making up most of the production.
The wine that most people are drawn to the Constantia Glen 3. This is due to the fact that it has a velvety, fruit aroma. It’s a merlot-based wine. There are various wine and food pairings that Justin shared with us that we will be putting together for you over the festive season. We look forward to sharing those on Tasty Tuesdays. Look out for those on our FB, Instagram and Twitter Page. If you’d like to know more about Constantia Glen’s incredible wines or history or better yet like to give them a visit along with the other incredible farms in Constantia, pop us an email at bookings@theconstatiawinetour.co.za.
We look forward to hearing from you.
The Constantia Wine Tour Team.