Klein Constantia is owned by the Jooste family, who have been involved in the South African wine industry for four generations. Duggie Jooste acquired the run-down estate in 1980 and immediately initiated a restoration and vineyard replanting programme. His son Lowell, who spent a year at University of California Davis studying oenology and viticulture, and working a harvest at the Robert Mondavi winery in the Napa Valley, now handles the day-to-day running of the farm, but neither has an official title, believing as they do that “labels belong on bottles”!

Klein Constantia’s winemaker (since the 2004 vintage) is Adam Mason. He brings an injection of enthusiasm and overseas experience to the winery, and he is particularly well-qualified to ensure the vitality of Klein Constantia’s winemaking venture, as his varied career has provided a combination of old world winemaking philosophy and new world technology, all on a sound commercial footing.
Equipped with a degree in oenology and viticulture from Stellenbosch University, he cemented his theoretical knowledge in the Midi, working as junior winemaker for Direct Wines, the world’s largest mail-order wine company. He rose to become senior winemaker, based in Castillon la Bataille, near St-Emilion. He comes to Klein Constantia via International Wine Services, South Africa, the off-trade division of Waverley Wines and Spirits, where he was winemaker and GM.

After experiencing the commercial side of the industry, he has been happy to return to a more hands-on, “artisan” style of winemaking, enjoying getting to know the vineyards, which farm manager Kobus Jordaan has nurtured since 1980.

Adam is approaching Klein Constantia’s iconic Vin de Constance with a proper sense of respect. Its “totally focused, uncluttered style” doesn’t, he feels, require any hasty adjustment. “Vin de Constance is about a sense of place,” he says. “It’s the vineyards that make the wine.” This belief in a sense of place being the soul of a wine makes Adam a natural custodian of Klein Constantia’s august winemaking tradition.