This is a book about the marriage of food and wine; of icons and ideas. A marriage that spans geographical barriers to create sensuous pleasure, seasoned with history.

The players are international, the ingredients global, and the book is the first to link one of the world’s top chefs to a South African wine estate. It is also the first cookbook to be devoted to a single South African icon wine.

The inspiration came from the vineyards of Klein Constantia in the Western Cape, where the legendary Constantia sweet wine, sought-after by kings and emperors in the early 18th and 19th centuries, was revived in1986 by the Jooste family, who had been in the wine trade for three generations, and the Klein Constantia team.

The idea was realised by Michel Roux Jr of London’s Le Gavroche restaurant, named as one of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants organised by Restaurant magazine in London. A wine lover, he believes that when wine is good, it can be enjoyed on its own, but to make the experience “whole�, a little accompaniment is better.