Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Klein Constantia 2023 Constantia Chardonnay shows vibrant high tones and pretty acidity. The wine completes partial malolactic fermentation to bring out extra spice and baked pastry. Otherwise, it shows clean flavors of Golden Delicious apple, honey and toasted oats. Phenolically rich, the wine finishes with a creamy texture.
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James Suckling
Lots of salty freshness to this chardonnay. Salted almonds, lemon curd and buttered sourdough on the nose, followed by a sleek, elegant, medium-bodied palate.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
One of the most famous and celebrated wine regions imported throughout Europe during the 18th century, Constantia was founded in 1685 by a Dutch governor named Simon van der Stel who ran a successful wine farm for many years.
Constantia vineyards, planted in ancient soil beds, climb up the east-facing slopes of the Constantiaberg, where the vines receive cool sea breezes blowing in from False Bay.