Blanc de Blancs

The pure nature of this Cap Classique calls for authentic food of the highest simplicity. Shellfish roasted over wingerdstok, cracked open and served with farm-egg mayonnaise; baked oysters dressed with burnt butter. Primal flavours and cooking techniques, such as whole trout grilled on a cedar-plank. Refined yet down to earth.

The 2021 growing season began with a cooler than average winter, complete with Tulbagh’s majestic snow-capped mountains encircling the vineyards. High amounts of cold units ensured a restorative dormancy period. Ample rain provided natural irrigation for the resting vines. Due to the high diurnal conditions of the mountain slopes, the nights were cold in the growing season resulting in fine, stable acids for both the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The cool temperatures locking in the freshness after the warmth of the day. The vines developed a healthy canopy with just the right amount of sun penetration during the moderate growing season and showed a good balance between yield and quality production. Harvest conditions were also cooler than the mean average and due to this picking started a few days later than usual. This delay was advantageous in the accumulation of bright, pure acids especially malic acid, which resulted in healthy and clean base wines. We started harvesting on 18 January and ended on 9 February. It was a seamless process of bringing in the night harvested grapes as healthy whole-bunches into the cellar, where the fruit was gently whole-bunch pressed.

With 36 months of maturation in bottle in our underground cellar, this Cap Classique embodies the spirit of Krone and will develop further in the bottle as it ages.

Chardonnay is hand harvested in the cool of the night and naturally fermented in 2500l wooden foudres.

The 300-year-old Twee Jonge Gezellen Estate in Tulbagh is the historic home of Krone, a collection of Vintage-Only, terroir-driven Cap Classiques. Twee Jonge Gezellen is tucked into the northwest corner of the Tulbagh wine region, home to the fourth oldest town in South Africa, dating back to the early 1700s. Originally, it was one of 14 farms established after 1700 when the then governor of the Cape, Willem van der Stel, motivated for an expansion beyond Cape Town into the Winterberg, Witzenberg and Roodezand area. Twee Jonge Gezellen estate became wine-producing in the 20th century and, in a continuation of the founding pioneer spirit, invented cold fermentation in the 1950s, among other firsts. A devastating earthquake rocked the region in 1969, effectively delaying the introduction of Krone Cap Classique by 20 years. The first Krone Borealis vintage (1987) was released in 1991 to much acclaim; and a new generation of Cap Classique was born.