HISTORY

Jan van Riebeeck first brought vines to the Cape, and it was he and chief gardener Hendrik Boom, who produced the first wine in the Company Gardens, which still provide an urban haven in the centre of present day Cape Town.

On Sunday 2nd February 1659, van Riebeeck, then 40 years of age, wrote in his diary: "Fine warm weather...Today, praise be to God, wine was made for the first time from Cape grapes, namely from the new must, fresh from the vat. The grapes were mostly Muscadel, and other white round grapes, very fragrant and tasty."

Van Riebeeck then set about planting grapes on Greenpoint Common, and when this venture was not successful he was granted a farm near the upper reaches of the Liesbeeck River where he planted thousands of vines. The area surrounding this farm was called de Wynberg, the Wine Mountain. At this time, in the middle of the 17th century, Constantia lay outside the Cape Colony, and was known only as "woeste veld", or wild bush - a place devoid of farms or homesteads. By the time he left the Cape for Batavia in 1662, one of van Riebeeck's significant contributions to the future of the colony was the introduction of vines, and the modest beginnings of a winemaking tradition.

Constantia owes it's position as a world famous wine-producing area to two remarkable men - Governor Simon van der Stel, who chose the Valley for his own farm in 1685, and Hendrik Cloete, who bought the homestead on a section of the original farm in 1778. By revitalising and developing the estate, he brought international fame to Constantia wines.

Van der Stel was the first to recognize the potential of the Cape as more than just a half-way station to the East. What he desired most was a farm of his own, and when permission was granted in 1685, he immediately ventured off to uncover the most favourable area. Men were put to work, digging up baskets of soil along the length of the southern slopes from Table Bay through to Muizenberg, with each sample sent to the Castle for testing. Eventually satisfied that the decomposed granite soil from the sheltered valley facing False Bay, bound by the sea on both sides, was the most favourable of all, he claimed it and called it Constantia.

Van der Stel probably named Constantia after Constantia van Goens, granddaughter of the Dutch East India official who had agreed to grant him the farm, which measured 891 morgen - almost the entire valley. He built a fine house surrounded by gardens and orchards, and by 1709 at least 70,00 vines had been established, many of which were imported from Germany and elsewhere. These were mainly "steen-druif", the blue Muscadel of Catalonia, white Muscadel, and the kristaldruif.

Van der Stel died at Constantia in 1712, having embarked on a winemaking tradition which would soon achieve international fame. As none of van der Stel's family remained at the Cape, Constantia was divided into thirds and sold.

In March 1778, 16 months after his purchase of Constantia, Hendrik Cloete wrote happily to a friend in Europe, "I am now personally in charge; the weather is better and I am convinced that the Constantia wine this year will be the best ever...I am writing this in the cellar. Kleintje is in the vineyard, I am beside the wine-press all day without a jacket and in thin trousers."

Hendrik Cloete Jnr, son of "Groot Hendrik", bought the Constantia Manor House, with 224 morgen of ground, in 1778 - sixty-six years after the death of Governor Simon van der Stel. As an experienced and successful Stellenbosch wine farmer, he was not deterred by the fact that Constantia had become utterly neglected, and farmed it from 1800 until 1818 - a period when the farm was probably at the height of its fame.

It was Cloete's dying wish that the great tradition of Constantia winemaking which he had inherited would continue after his death. Putting his faith in his two younger sons, he decided that Jacob Pieter (b. 1794) would inherit Groot Constantia and that Johan Gerhard (b.1796) should become the owner of the upper portion of the great farm, known as Klein Constantia.

In 1818, the year his father died, Johan Gerhard Cloete was 22. There were already 33,000 vines at Klein Constantia when he began building the Manor House.

The design of the building is simple. It blends seamlessly with the landscape, achieving what must surely be one of the most beautiful of all wine settings. Typically Cape Dutch in style, the house is thatched and U-shaped, with yellowwood beams and ceilings, a wide front "stoep" and elegant sash windows. The narrow, classic gable is topped by a small triangular pediment, which matches the simpler gable above the old wine cellar.

The cellar was built in 1823 for Klein Constantia's first vintage. It is a large, comfortable building, protected by the lee of the hill and its high tailed platform in front is designed so that barrels filled with Constantia wine could be rolled out onto the waiting wagons.

Johan Gerhard Cloete spent twenty years making the fine sweet Constantia wine for which his family was famous. In 1840 he and his wife Petronella Kuchler moved away from the Valley with their children, having sold the farm to Abraham Brunt, a nephew of Leonora Colyn of de Hoop op Constantia.

THE DEMISE OF ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST WINES

As the 19th century drew to a close, the fungal disease oïdium was discovered in the vineyards, shortly followed by phylloxera, which caused devastation throughout Europe and the Cape. Bankruptcy and ruin ensued for many old winemaking families, including the Cloetes.

Groot Constantia was sold to the Cape Government, and the famous Constantia wines, which had brought delight and pleasure the world over, disappeared. However, the legend lived on, immortalized in poetry and prose, and still vibrantly alive in many old bottles which lay forgotten in the cellars of Europe's great wine collectors.

Abraham Lochner de Villiers and his American millionairess wife Clara Hussey purchased Klein Constantia in 1913, ushering in an era of ease and splendour, after many years of hardship endured by previous owners.

THE "GATSBY" ERA

De Villiers had travelled extensively in Europe, where he visited New York, Rome and Paris to bring back the latest designs for his millinery and fashion shop "La Mode" in Paarl. It was during a visit to Geneva he chanced to meet the American heiress. Events moved swiftly thereafter, and they were married in Pittsburgh in 1911, after which they were presented to King George V and Queen Mary at Buckingham Palace, and moving to Rome, were granted an audience with the Pope.

The vivacious couple made the Klein Constantia manor house their home during this year before the First World War, buying back Marlbrook, which had been sold to pay debts four years earlier, with its fertile fields and orchards.

Life at Klein Constantia took an exhuberant turn. "It was like something out of the Great Gatsby" said one enthusiastic guest. "You cannot imagine the glamour of it all".

Dressed in the latest fashion, Clara threw parties which were the talk of Cape Town, where Russian caviar was served, swathed in barrels of ice, together with oysters and smoked salmon; orchestras played, and peacocks strolled on the lawns.

Despite her great wealth, Clara de Villiers was entirely lacking in social prejudice. It was well known that people of humble origin were as welcome at her table as any Admiral or Archbishop.

The Pittsburg fortune was not confined to fine motor cars and caviar. Abraham and Clara set about the transformation of Klein Constantia with style and determination. Fine furniture and paintings were brought for the house, they added a dining hall, with a minstrel's gallery, a private chapel, and then a classical pavilion which stood beside a large swimming pool set in landscaped gardens.

Winemaking continued to play an important role and the farm produced good wine and excellent port.
Devoted to Klein Constantia as they were, Clara and Abraham were determined that the farm should remain within the de Villiers family. As they had no children of their own, their nephew Jan, son of Rocco and Annie de Villiers of Paarl, was designated as their heir, and sent to the University of California at Berkeley for two years to study viticulture.

When Jan returned to Klein Constantia he remained until Abraham's death in 1930, when he then left for the Transvaal, returning only in 1955 when his Aunt Clara died, whereupon he inherited the property.

With the passing of Clara Hussey de Villiers, the era of glamour and splendour came to an end.

CURRENT ERA

When Duggie Jooste bought the farm in 1980, it was in dire need of restoration. Lengthy soil preparation was the first task, followed by major replanting of the vineyards. Priority was given to first creating quality housing for the staff, whereafter work began on the new cellar, planned by winemaker Ross Gower, and designed by architect Gawie Fagan. Built just in time for the maiden1986 vintage, it subsequently received a Merit Award from the Cape Provincial Institute of Architects.

Vin de Constance

Marlbrook


Marlbrook was the name by which the mighty general John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, was known in Europe. In the early 18th century, Marlborough swept his troops to victory against the armies of Louis XIV.
Later that century Hendrik Cloete built a guesthouse on a beautiful site which he had set apart, and planted a grove of oak trees and named it Marlbrook in honour of the Duke of Marlborough.

Cloete and his sons were immersed in military custom, and admired the Duke not only for his military genius, but also because of his support, which put William of Orange, a Protestant, on the throne of England. At important gatherings, the Cloetes drank toasts to the House of Orange with their best Constantia wine.

Another century passed before Harry Pickstone, Father of the South African Fruit Industry, came to live at Marlbrook. He established the first scientifically run fruit nursery here, and 300,000 fruit trees flourished on these mountain slopes. Following a discussion with Cecil John Rhodes, Pickstone was persuaded to leave Marlbrook and develop Rhodes' fruit farms in the Groot Drakenstein.
When major restoration and renovation of Klein Constantia began in 1980, Marlbrook was once again selected for a particular purpose, which was the planting of classic French varieties for a special red blend - a wine which would be worthy of the Marlbrook tradition.

Klein Constantia today

With its historic background, unique eco-system - where ancient indigenous forests stretch up the mountainside - home to birds, some of which migrate from a great distance each year, and unusual combination of architectural styles, Klein Constantia is a remarkable place of great diversity.

THE MOSLEM HERITAGE

As a result of the role of the Dutch East India Company in the history of the Cape, South Africa today participates in the world Islamic tradition, and Klein Constantia estate is respectfully proud to be a part of that history.

At the gate of Klein Constantia is the Kramat (shrine) of Sheik Abdurachman Matebe Shah, linked in oral traditional to the last Sultanate of Malacca. Banished to the Cape after capture by the Dutch in Sumatra in 1661, he and his companion Sheikh Mahmoud, were confined to the forests of Constantia. Though they were regarded as orang Cayen - men of great power and influence - they were also men of great spirituality and they lived lives of meditation and contemplation, here in this beautiful corner of the Cape.

In 1986 the Cape Mazzar Society rebuilt the Kramat of Sheik Abdurachman Matebe Shah which is situated on a separate land title held and maintained by the Cape Moslem society.

The shrine of Sheik Abdurachman Matebe Shah is of particular significance to the Moslem community because he is one of the three men who brought Islam to Southern Africa. The Kramat is built on the spot where he is thought to have died in 1681 or 1682 and it forms part of the "holy Circle" - a group of burial tombs dating from the 17th century. This stretches from the slopes of Signal Hill to Oudekraal (beyond Camps Bay), sweeping round to Constantia, Faure and Robben Island. To "make the circle" and pray at each tomb is an act of piety for pilgrims.