The making of vintage-only Krone Cap Classique is directed by nature: from soil to vine to bottle. Our winemaking team channels the rain, the sun, the wind into structure, complexity and balance—and seals it all with a cork. The site-specific rocky soils of Tulbagh are like nowhere else in the Cape Winelands.
Family-owned, the Rands family purchased the farm in 2012. Brother and sister, Svend and Abigail are involved intimately in all aspects of the estate, from vineyard plantings to marketing. Cellarmaster Rudiger Gretschel leads the winemaking division, a renowned Cape winemaker he pours his considerable knowledge into both the viticulture as well as the vinification, working seamlessly alongside Cap Classique specialist and head winemaker Stephan de Beer.
Transient yet immutable. We follow the story of our terroir, so that every vintage is a true expression of the vineyard. Each year we look back to what the previous vintage has taught us, while at the same time we look forward to the story of the soil unfolding along with the new vintage.
The site-specific rocky soils of Tulbagh are like nowhere else in the Cape Winelands. This is our bedrock for making great Cap Classique. Twee Jonge Gezellen’s vineyards run up the eastern slopes of the Saronsberg Mountain. The mountain is known as “the rainmaker” thanks to the rain-shadow effect created by the peak. Protected from the buffeting of the Cape’s summer South-Easter, the elevated vineyards are raised from the valley floor and benefit from the cool airflow that descends the mountain slopes by night. Ripening in Tulbagh occurs on average two weeks earlier than in the majority of the Western Cape’s wine regions. This allows the grapes to retain their natural acidity, which is so important for the making of elegant Cap Classique.
This has enabled us to use malolactic conversion—normally rare in the making of Cap Classique—which ensures richness of flavour without losing the fresh acidity that makes Krone Cap Classique so sought-after.
