Nothing beats finding that perfect Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that is both structured and accessible enough to drink on its own, and that pairs perfectly with that impromptu weekday or weekend pizza, pasta dish, or a good old braai. The De Krans Basket Press Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 has a typical character of cassis, ripe berries with fresh prunes and cedar spice on the nose. What makes this Cabernet Sauvignon so unique is the use of an old basket press, which enables a softer pressing action, that results in a softer tannin structure and a fruit-driven character of plums, mulberries and dark cherries. The De Krans Basket Press Cabernet Sauvignon

De Krans Wines in Calitzdorp is without a doubt one of SA’s leading port producers. This statement was reaffirmed when, for the fourth year in a row its Cape Vintage Reserve was announced as the Overall Fortified Wine of the Year by revered UK authority Tim Atkin MW, in his highly anticipated annual review of South African wines. This year the 2018 vintage took the honour, as well as scoring an impressive 95 points. In addition three of their wines scored 90 + points each. The deserving recipients were the De Krans Touriga Nacional 2018 (91 points), Garden Route Sauvignon Blanc 2020 (90 points) and the De Krans Tritonia

Not only regarded as SA’s leading port producer, but also for their numerous accolades, De Krans Wines can confidently add Top 10 winner to their list for the Tritonia Red 2017, which recently secured a spot in the annual Prescient Red Blend Report for 2020. The annual report was convened by Winemag.co.za, and this year there were 45 entries received from 39 producers, of which 27 scored 90+ on the 100-point quality scale, as tasted blind by a three-person panel. The panel was chaired by well-known industry influencer Christian Eedes, who was joined in the judging process by Roland Peens and James Pietersen, both of Wine Cellar. The Tritonia Red

De Krans, widely known as being one of SA’s leading port-style wine producers, recently welcomed the wonderful news of having earned top praise at this year’s 2020 National Wine Challenge Awards/ Top 100 SA Wines. Both their Cape Vintage Reserve 2017 port-style wine and Touriga Nacional 2018 dry red wine were awarded the Grand Cru National Champion Best in Class titles (Best in Category) as well as a Double Platinum and position on the sought-after Top 100 SA Wines for 2020. The flagship dry red Tritonia Red (Calitzdorp blend) 2017 was also a recipient of a Double Platinum as well as securing a spot on the Top 100 list. The awards were announced

Winter is that time of the year where our social lives go into unofficial hibernation and we tend to stay in, develop our home cooking skills and spend our evenings sipping delicious drinks in front of the fireplace, snuggled up under a blanket. During the past decade port-style wines have both managed to evolve in its versatility, such as the De Krans Cape Pink which is used as a cocktail mixer, and expanded on the traditional styles, for example tweaking a Cape Vintage to produce a lovely and unique dessert wine called Espresso.  It is also almost 10 years since the EU agreement that every port-style wine bottled

Although De Krans is synonymous with producing award-winning port-style wines, they have really managed to extend their relationship with Portuguese cultivars beyond their fortified range, resulting in a diverse and unique range of dry, still wines, known as the Terroir range. Appropriately so, since the Calitzdorp terroir is so similar to that of the Douro Valley in Portugal, making it a perfect area to produce quality wines from Portuguese varieties. The first Portuguese grape vines planted in 1973 at De Krans in Calitzdorp, were actually intended to be Shiraz grapes. Only when the first grapes were harvested a few years later, were these vines discovered to be Tinta Barocca,