Klein Constantia Estate has partnered with Nimbility to support them to expand the visibility and presence of their emblematic ‘Vin de Constance’ with an initial emphasis on China. As the first ever South African wine to be sold via La Place de Bordeaux, Nimbility’s team of brand builders will act as Brand Ambassadors for ‘Vin de Constance’, working hand in hand with the negociants and their customers to host tastings and events, as well as building and managing its presence through China’s vast digital landscape.

Alongside this, Nimbility has been tasked with building out the route to market for Klein Constantia Estate wines and their Stellenbosch estate Anwilka across key target markets in APAC. This will involve securing the right distribution partners in each territory and developing the network of downstream trade customers with a focus on the premium on-trade for building reputation and visibility of the brands. Initial key focus markets, in addition to China include South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Nimbility to further strengthen the presence of our portfolio of wines across the markets in APAC,” says Hans Astrom, Vice-Chairman Klein Constantia Estate. “Our positioning of ‘Vin de Constance’ within ‘La Place de Bordeaux’ has enabled us to grow our distribution solidly in the region for the past four years. Now is the time to further strengthen our position with continuous work of being present, visible, and relevant to both the trade and consumers. As the local experts in the field of brand marketing and support, as well as building secure route-to-market, partnering with Nimbility is the natural next step for our brands’ journey in APAC.”

Touted as “one of the most mythical vineyards in the world” and regularly appearing within the Top 50 World’s Best Vineyards, Klein Constantia is a legendary wine estate. Dating back to 1685, its history is not only long, but perforated by the highest international acclaim. Over the centuries ‘Vin de Constance’ has been savoured by royalty from Frederick the Great of Prussia to Louis XVI of France and perhaps most famously, reserved for the personal enjoyment of Napoleon Bonaparte while in exile on St Helena. Given pride of place in the cellars of the world’s greatest wine collectors, Constantia was also immortalized in the writings of some of the best poets and authors of the 18th and 19th centuries including Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

As a result, the legend of Constantia wine lived on long after production was halted in the late 1800s due to a combination of reasons including vine diseases, labour shortages and farm bankruptcies. Wines that had brought pleasure all over the world may have disappeared forever had it not been for their resurrection by Klein Constantia in the 1980s.

Bought by the Jooste family in 1980, Klein Constantia’s 35 hectares of vineyard were resurrected along with the planting of large tracts of virgin viticultural land on the higher slopes of the estate. After conducting extensive soil analyses, identifying two distinct mesoclimates and consulting South Africa’s top viticulturalist, Ernst le Roux, they planted Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling on the cooler, south-facing slopes stretching high up the Constantiaberg, while Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Shiraz were planted on the warmer, north facing slopes lower down. From the first vintage Klein Constantia’s wines have received consistent praise for their cool climate elegance.

From the beginning, the Joostes nurtured a secret dream: to bring back the one truly, historically great wine ever made in the southern hemisphere, the luscious dessert wine grown right here in the valley where they now occupied prime position. Delving into the history archives as well as looking at more modern research, they concluded the original (white) Constantia was a natural sweet wine made from mostly Muscat de Frontignan. Amazingly, Le Roux was able to propagate a special clone of Muscat that had almost certainly come from the original Constantia vineyards, given that no record could be found of Muscat being imported to South Africa after the 1650s. In July 1982, he planted Muscat vines on the lower slopes at Klein Constantia.

The first ‘Vin de Constance’ of the modern era was harvested in 1986 and after four years in oak barrels released in distinctive (and trademarked) ‘old-fashioned’ bottles to almost instant acclaim. Once again gracing royal tables, from Buckingham Palace to Versailles, and the pages of popular fiction, the wine has enjoyed the highest accolades ever since, both locally and internationally.

In 2011 the Jooste family decided to sell Klein Constantia to Czech-American investor and philanthropist Zdenĕk Bakala, who resides in Switzerland, and UK-based businessman Charles Harman. Since then, celebrated Bordeaux wine personalities Bruno Prats and Hubert de Boüard have also come on board as shareholders, along with Swedish-born Hans Astrom as vice-chairman. Determined to see Klein Constantia live up to – and perhaps even surpass – its mythical reputation, they say: “We are privileged to be custodians of one of the most historic properties in the Cape and regard the preservation of this heritage as a serious responsibility.”

“We are truly honoured to be partnering with Klein Constantia to build the reputation and visibility of ‘Vin de Constance’ in China, as well as have the opportunity to develop key markets for Klein Constantia’s delicious, cool climate dry wines and Anwilka’s stunning reds”, says Francesca Martin, Founding Partner at Nimbility. “These are a truly iconic wines that have all the pedigree necessary to sit amongst the world’s finest and shine bright with their uniqueness and exceptional quality. Being given the opportunity to tell ‘Vin de Constance’s’ legendary story and showcase these wines is an absolute privilege and we couldn’t be more excited to introduce these wines to wine lovers across APAC.”

For more information about Klein Constantia Estate, ‘Vin de Constance’ and Anwilka Estate in APAC please contact polly@nimbilityasia.com

Klein Constantia Estate and Anwilka partner with Nimbility to further enhance the presence of their wines across APAC