Jane Austen & Constantia

The world’s most famous playboy, Giacomo Girolamo Casanova, wooed his women with it, Napoleon drank it daily while in exile on St Helena and royalty have ordered it by the hundreds.

And on the page, the wine Vin de Constance, made exclusively at Klein Constantia, even had a shout-out in Fifty Shades of Grey! In the book the wine is listed on the menu at a masked ball which lovers Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele attend. On the opposite end of the literary scale, Dickens mentioned it in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, when it was served to Reverend Septimus by his mother.

Jane Austen Valentine shadowbox

But the literary connection that got my attention was the one made with one of  my favorite authors, Jane Austen! In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor is offered a glass of the wine for her sister by Mrs. Jennings, who says her husband described it as “more good than any thing else in the world”. After being thrown over by Mr. Willoughby for Miss Gray and her 50,000 pounds, Mrs. Jennings recommends a little Constantia to Marianne for "its healing powers on a disappointed heart".

Now I have reread every one of Jane Austen's six novels countless times and, shame on me, never noticed or wondered about this elixir for a disappointed heart. So I was surprised when James brought the connection to my attention in the Tasting Room at Groot Constantia. "Do you like Jane Austen?" he queried with a twinkle in his eye. He knew he had me at cheerio.

We bought a few bottles of the sweet dessert Muscat of course after tasting its liquid-y goodness - perfect for us to drink next Valentine's Day! Even though it is a delight to drink, I just hope I never need to.