50 Shades sparks interest in Napoleon's sweet elixir

A passing mention of Napoleon’s favourite sweet wine – Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance – in E L James’ novel 50 Shades Darker has sparked unprecedented interest in the South African sweet wine. The 2004 vintage appears in the second novel of the 50 Shades erotic trilogy at a masked ball attended by protagonists, Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele.

The elixir is enjoyed with the third course at the event, paired with sugared-crusted walnut chiffon candied figs and maple ice cream. According to The Telegraph, restaurants in the US have begun staging Fifty Shades evenings with replica menus. The sweet wine’s cameo has also led to daily requests to try the 2004 vintage at the estate in the Constantia Valley near Cape Town.

"We're asked every day by people coming into our tasting room about the wine appearing in Fifty Shades Darker," managing director Hans Astrom told The Telegraph, adding, "We were surprised to discover that Vin de Constance was featured in the book, but as a result many new people are discovering one of the great wines of the world,” he added.

The Constantia valley is the oldest vineyard region in the Cape with vines first planted in 1685. Napoleon is said to have drunk a bottle of Vin de Constance a day while in exile on the island of St. Helena, and every day in the week leading up to his death. French poet Baudelaire claimed that only the lips of his lover surpassed the “heavenly sweetness” of South Africa's “honey-coloured” Constantia wine.

And in 1811, the golden elixir was prescribed for Jane Austen's heroine Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility for its "healing powers on a disappointed heart.” Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr. of Le Gavroche has even written a cookbook devoted to the wine. "Vin de Constance’s romantic qualities were recognised by Jane Austen, eulogised by Baudelaire and have now been taken to a new level by E L James,” co-owner of the estate, Charles Harman told the DT.

Production of Vin de Constance ceased at the end of the 19^th century after a Phylloxera epidemic swept through the Contantia Valley. The sweet wine was revived 30 years ago when the Vin de Constance vineyard was redeveloped. Up to 30,000 bottles of Vin de Constance are produced per year, depending on yields. The wine is now selling as fast as the estate can produce it, at around £35 a bottle in the UK. The 50 Shades trilogy has sold 65 million copies worldwide.

Vin de Constance to take on Sauternes

South African estate Klein Constantia’s new managing director is on a mission to pit its flagship sweet wine – Vin de Constance – against the best wines from Sauternes. “We want to benchmark ourselves against the best sweet wines in the world and go up against the likes of Château d’Yquem in the quality stakes,” Hans Astrom told the drinks business during a visit to London this week. Astrom plans to achieve this by focusing on strict selection: “We’re averaging around 15 hectolitres per hectare for Vin de Constance, which is incredibly low, so our prices will have to reflect this leap in quality,” he said. 

“We’ve started picking the Muscat de Frontignan berry by berry, so no sub-standard grapes sneak into the wine. We want to separate the good eggs from the rotten eggs,” he added. Astrom is unafraid of getting rid of wines from the estate’s portfolio if he doesn’t deem them good enough. “We’re discontinuing our Riesling next year for exactly that reason. I’d rather have a few high quality wines that a load of mediocre ones."

To assist his quality quest, he’s enlisted the help of go-to viticulturalist Rosa Kruger, who has worked for the likes of Eben Sadie, Solms-Delta and Rupert and Rothschild. 2012 will be the estate’s latest harvest in 30 years. “All the Muscat for Vin de Constance is still hanging on the vines a month later than it should be, it’s a risk, but if it pays off we’ll have one of the most concentrated wines we’ve ever made.” The company is expecting an abundant harvest this year, resulting in around 30,000 bottles of Vin de Constance compared to last year’s 10,000.

“Despite its name, the yields for Vin de Constance are very inconstant and vary hugely from year to year.” Astrom was made managing director of the company in January by new owners Charles Harman and Zdenek Bakala. Once voted Sweden's best sommelier, before joining Klein Constantia he was general manager for Hess Family Estates. Now installed, he’s keen to shake thing up, believing the family-owned company had become complacent.

“It’s easy for family companies to relax and fall into routines. It’s better now it’s not South African-owned. The new owners wanted a cage-rattling renegade and I’m on a mission to wake up the sleeping beauty, blow the dust off and restore it to its former glory,” he said. One of his big aims is to build up the Vin de Constance back catalogue by buying back old bottles at auction. “The farm didn’t save any wines so I’m having to buy back our liquid history. We’ve managed to get hold of a few bottles from the 1800s,” he revealed.

Astrom reports surprising levels of interest in Vin de Constance in France, given its own supply of Sauternes. “I have people writing to me every day wanting to taste Napoleon’s favourite wine. The Napoleon connection is a great sales driver for us,” he admitted. The French emperor was said to have drunk Vin de Constance every day in the week leading up to his death. Klein Constantia lies in the Constantia valley – the oldest vineyard region in the Cape.