Spring signals new beginnings and in true fashion, we have just discovered the very first flowers on one of the apricot trees. Perhaps a bit early, brought on by warmer winter days, and at slight risk of frosty mornings still to come. Nevertheless, there it is, undeniable, beautiful and full of hope all at once. Winter seems like a bit of a blur filled with cold mornings, rainy days, and cosy nights, and there seems to be this feeling that, come 1 September, there will be a collective sigh of relief that we have turned a corner and Summer is in sight. So as we all come out of hibernation and get ready to spend more time outside, we invite you to visit us at De Krans Wines to embracing the ample space under the vines at our Bistro, while enjoying breakfast, lunch or a delicious cheese platter. Take a walk through the vineyards on our vineyard trail – a great way to see more of the farm or to stretch your legs. This is also great when bringing along your dogs. Visit our tasting room to taste the wide variety of award-winning wines and stock up on your favourite wines, or perhaps try something new.
Our visiting hours are as follows:
Wine tasting
Mondays – Saturdays: 9am – 4.30pm
Sundays: 9am – 4pm
Bistro
Mondays – Sundays: 9am – 4pm (kitchen closes 3.30pm)
Come and spend two evenings with us at De Krans with stories, wine, food and laughter, provided by our special guest, the well-known Lizz Meiring, as well as our winemaker Christoff de Wet. If you are interested, please book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Succulents, Wine & Food on 20 September 7pm – 9.30pm – a food and wine tasting & pairing, with 9 canapes and 9 De Krans wines presented by multi-award winning and actress Lizz Meiring and De Krans Winemaker, Christoff de Wet. Duration 150 minutes. Tickets are R450 per person, wines included, available from Ticketpro.
Stories, Wine & Food on 21 September 7pm – 9.30pm – a food and wine Pairing with a three-course meal and 3 De Krans wines presented with stories by multi-award winning actress Lizz Meiring and De Krans Winemaker, Christoff de Wet. Duration 150 minutes. Tickets are R400 per person, available from Ticketpro.
We have just a few weeks to go until one of the annual Calitzdorp calendar highlights – the Calitzdorp Succulent Festival, taking place from 20-22 September 2024. The festival has evolved over the past few years into a unique and sought-after weekend bringing people together from all over the country to gather and embrace their mutual love for succulents. The area between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn is one of the most species-rich arid areas in the world when it comes to succulents, making this a truly special place to meet like-minded individuals, stock up on ethically cultivated succulents, learn more about the succulents in the area and enjoy the Calitzdorp hospitality. For more information, please contact the Calitzdorp Tourism or the Calitzdorp Succulent Society at +27 (0) 76 298 7337 or info@vetplant.co.za.
With Summer around the corner it is time to diarise one of annual De Krans highlights, the Summer fruit picking. During the summer months, visitors to De Krans will have the opportunity to bring their own cooler bags, baskets or boxes, spend some time in nature with family and friends and pick Bulida apricots around the last week of November and first week in December, as well as Hanepoot grapes during the month of February. Please keep an eye on our social media platforms for final dates and more information. We are so excited to once again open the fruit picking activity to the public and welcome you to the farm to celebrate Summer with us.
The De Krans Cape Vintage 2019 was awarded the Trophy for the best Port-style wine at the 2024 Fine Wine Awards, sponsored by American Express. Wines were tasted blind by an independent panel and results were announced at an award show at the prestigious Cavalli Estate on June 13th.
In more recent awards news, our De Krans Touriga Nacional 2023 walked away as the National winner at the 2024 Terroir Awards. The Terroir awards has historically paid tribute to and embraced the different wine regions and quality wines produced in specific regions in South Africa, in an attempt to highlight and celebrate the unique qualities each region has to offer and how those qualities are reflected in the wines. The Portuguese varietal, Touriga Nacional, was planted at De Krans in 1994, with De Krans producing the first single varietal Touriga Nacional natural wine in South Africa in 2000.
De Krans Wines raked in numerous awards at the 2024 Klein Karoo Young Wine Show last week, including being named the Champion Private Wine cellar in the Klein Karoo once again. Other notable awards include the Champion Natural Sweet Wine, which was awarded to the Premium White Moscato Perlé. The Garden Route Sauvignon Blanc was also named the Champion Dry White Wine of the Klein Karoo. This wine also won a Gold Medal at the South African Young Wine Show. In addition to these awards, De Krans Wines also received 5 Class Winners at this year’s Klein Karoo Young Wine Show, as well as a Class Winner at the 2024 South African Young Wine Show for our port-style wine in the Cape Tawny class.
We have relished these winter months with the slow cooked food, quality reds and port-style wine by the fireplace. Yet, with one of the coldest and wettest winters (at least in the Cape), we eagerly await warmer days, balmy nights, and chilled rosé’s and ice-cold white wine. Of course, there will always be space for a good red, especially when paired with a good steak, burger or pasta. For this edition’s Spring selection, we have something for every palate, every food pairing, and any type of weather. Embrace the wide variety of award-winning wines De Krans has to offer:
We are excited to announce that we’ve just launched the 2024 vintage of the popular Garden Route Sauvignon Blanc. The new vintage, made in a similar style to previous vintages, has a crisp acidity with flavours of green peppers and tropical fruit like guava. This Sauvignon Blanc is best enjoyed with seafood dishes such as, cob, “stompneus”, salmon and snoek terrine. The Garden Route Sauvignon Blanc is produced at De Krans Wines in Calitzdorp, using grapes from the cooler Upper Langkloof ward. To learn more about the Garden Route wines, please visit the Garden Route website at www.gardenroutewines.co.za
The Tritonia Verdelho 2022 is a unique white wine produced using the Portuguese cultivar, Verdelho, which was planted at De Krans in 2015 in deep Karoo clay soils on the banks of the Gamka river. Having spent 12 months in oak, this wine has delicious flavours of almonds honeysuckle, orange peel, vanilla, ripe melon and lime, with a subtle nuttiness and a well-balanced acidity. This wine pairs well with seafood such as salmon or seatrout, as well as roasted pork loin or a Cape Malay curry. Originally the white Tritonia was a blend of Verdelho and Malvasia Rei (Palomino), but the Verdelho on its own provides a much preferred freshness and acidity compared to the previous blend. Of course, the Malvasia Rei grapes are also used to produce white port, which we use to make the ready-to-drink port-style and tonic cocktail.
The De Krans Premium Moscato Perlé Range is a premium sparkling, natural sweet wine range consisting of a white, rosé and red Moscato. The Premium Moscato Perlé Rosé 2024 is the perfect spring selection wine, with its light pink blush colour, slight fizz, and strawberry, other red fruit, muscat and candyfloss flavours. The wine has a refreshing acidity with a lingering aftertaste and serves as the perfect alternative to a bubbly. Be sure to serve it chilled and enjoy on its own in a bubbly or white wine glass or enjoy with a charcuterie- and cheese platter, mild curry, summer salads, pizza or cream-based pastas.
The single varietal Tinta Roriz 2021 is a unique red wine only sold directly from the farm and the perfect accompaniment to a hearty, meaty dish, such as springbok shank, carpaccio, leg of lamb or a venison steak. One of the four main Portuguese varietals we use to produce our port-style wines, this varietal adds a good tannin structure and dark fruit character to the wine. The wine boasts flavours of vibrant red fruits, spice, vanilla, cassis, roasted coriander as well as an earthiness with chewy tannins. If kept in correct conditions, this wine will mature very well over time.
The Cape Vintage Reserve 2019, the De Krans’ flagship port-style wine is truly something special, with the wine style having been awarded a coveted 5 star-rating in the Platter’s Wine Guide 15 times already. The Cape Vintage Reserve is a full-bodied port-style wine that spent roughly 20 months in a big wooden vat. It has a beautiful dark plum colour with ripe red berries, cherries and violets on the nose with smooth dark chocolate undertones and firm tannins. This is the perfect gift for a special occasion and will mature well over 30 years when kept in the right conditions. This dessert wine can be enjoyed on its own or with stronger cheeses like matured cheddar or blue cheese.
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We invite you to become part of the De Krans Wine Club where you will not only qualify for free delivery nationwide for orders of R2000 or more, but will also enjoy several other benefits. This Spring we want to encourage and celebrate new members signing up to our De Krans Wine Club by giving the first five new wine club members each, who place an order to the value of minimum R2000, a magnum bottle of the Cape Vintage Reserve 2004 (with a value of R1500 per magnum).
De Krans Wines Wine Club membership terms and benefits:
Order wine to a minimum value of R2000 and receive a FREE door-to-door delivery nationwide (one delivery address per order). Should your order be for less than R2000, we are happy to calculate a delivery quote based on your delivery address. We will then furnish you with a pro forma invoice with our banking details. After payment, you will receive a Tax invoice. Please note that regardless of the value of your order, we will only courier wine in multiples of 6 bottles (a full case) to minimize breakages.
