There is so much history in the South African Winelands. It was really fitting to celebrate at Groot Constantia with winemaker Boela Gerber and viticulturist Floricius Beukes at the farm after a record-breaking price achieved by a single bottle of the 1821 Grand Constance at the Strauss Auction earlier in Sept 2021 of nearly R1m! Read more HERE The bottle belonged to the Malan family of Simonsig and it was of such a high standard that the auctioneers even said it has never been recorked - it is in its original pristine form, but the price of R967 300 includes a recorking if so desired! At the celebration in the historic Cloete Cellar, we were fortunate to taste through 3 of the more recent wines - a 2005, 2013 and 2017. All were fresh and delicious and the pairings with creative canapes were delicious - with my favourite being the blue cheese with the sweet Muscat. Simply divine. What a treat to have Boela and Floricius bringing the stories to life, talking through the styles and how the new bottle shape was arrived at quite recently. They are trying to emulate the original bottle shape, and when they first tried to find a glass maker, they reached out to the French, but eventually good old South African glass makers Consol came to the party and made the bottle for them. There are shards and bits of bottles through the years in the Cloete Cellar, with an interesting story of a set of the wines being found in Delaware Bay in the 1800s