De Krans releases New Vintages of Classic Varietal Range

De Krans Wines is not only known for their award-winning port-style wines, but also their innovative approach to developing and producing new wines, typically in celebration of their unique Klein Karoo terroir.

Apart from the popular Premium Moscato range, De Krans has also shifted their focus to producing exclusive, quality, boutique style wines made from classic grape varieties, known as their Classic Varietal Range.

This range focuses on the classic varieties commonly found in South Africa, but with a twist when it comes to the winemaking process or technique in producing each wine. De Krans Wines has recently released its new vintages in all categories, with the range consisting of the Free-Run Chenin Blanc 2021, Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2021, Pinotage Rosé 2021 and Basket Press Cabernet Sauvignon 2020.

Contrary to popular belief that the Klein Karoo’s temperatures are too hot to produce quality white wines with a freshness, it is interesting and rather important to note that the average temperatures of Calitzdorp are in fact cooler than the Swartland and Paarl areas in most years during the growing season from September to early March. It is important to realize that the focus should perhaps be more on the dry terroir as opposed to warmer temperatures – it is after all similar to the Douro Valley in Portugal. The Calitzdorp terroir positively contributes to producing wines of classic grape varieties, as it adds to the depth of fruit character and complexity of the wines.

In producing the De Krans Free-Run Chenin Blanc, only the free run juice of the grapes is used, which is the first batch of juice after the initial destemming and crushing of the grapes without pressing the wine. This reduces the risk of too many phenols in the juice, resulting in complex fruit flavours of ripe tropical fruit, ripe banana, guava, passion fruit and hints of lime. The wine has a well-rounded mouth feel, smooth structure and refreshing, balanced acidity, and pairs well with fresh snoek, sushi, braaied chicken, summer salads and pasta.

The De Krans Wild Ferment Chardonnay is an unwooded wine that garners delicious rich and creamy flavours from the long fermentation period. No yeast is added at the beginning, resulting in natural fermentation over an extended period of about six weeks. This slow fermentation process allows the wine to develop a complex character, after which the wine spends another six months on fine lees before bottling. The wine has a beautiful light lime yellow colour, with citrus and butterscotch on the nose and lime, creamy butterscotch and grapefruit on the palate. The wine pairs well with most pasta and pizza, as well as fish such as tuna or yellowtail.

It isn’t ironic that the success of the De Krans Pinotage Rosé, one of De Krans’ fastest growing wines, has coincided with the growth in the Rosé category around the world. Staying true to their heritage, De Krans has turned to Tinta Barocca grapes for making a Rosé, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Finally, De Krans settled on Pinotage grapes as they simply result in the best colour and flavour combination. The De Krans Pinotage Rosé has a beautiful light rose petal, blush pink colour with rose petal, candy floss and strawberries on the nose, and fine, red fruit on the palate. The wine has a lively, well balanced acidity and pairs well with summer salads, grilled cob, fish cakes and snoek pâté.

The De Krans Basket Press Cabernet Sauvignon is a smooth, juicy and full-bodied wine that is great to enjoy on its own, yet pairs well with most pasta, pizza, and a traditional South African braai. While still showcasing the traditional Cabernet characteristics, the wine has a smooth tannin structure and was made with the intention to drink at an earlier age and not be matured for too long. This smooth tannin structure is achieved by using an old basket press, imported from France in the 1950’s, which was originally used as a champagne press. The biggest percentage of this wine is aged in older French oak barrels and a small part in concrete tanks with French oak staves for approximately 12 months, before being bottled. The wine has delicious flavours of ripe berries, cassis, cedar spice and fresh prunes on the nose, and plum, mulberries, dark cherries and notes of cherry cigar on the palate.

These wines retail for approximately R74 for the Free- Run Chenin Blanc and the Pinotage Rosé, and R79 for the Wild Ferment Chardonnay and Basket Press Cabernet Sauvignon respectively.

For more information, please visit www.dekrans.co.za or follow on social media.