If you know me, you know that I am a firm believer in enjoying a good glass or 3 of MCC. And so, when I was planning my #WineRoutingWithLloyd trip, I could not pass up the opportunity to visit one of my all time favourite bubbly producers.
Situated out on the Twee Jonge Gezellen farm just outside of Tulbagh lies the home of Krone. A collection of notable, vintage-only South African Méthode Cap Classiques. The farm, being among one of the oldest farms in the Western Cape, was 1 of 14 farms granted to colonists by the then governor of the Cape - Willem van der Stel, as he wanted to see development beyond Cape Town, specifically in the Winterberg & Witzenberg areas, which is now know as Tulbagh, and so the town was established in 1743.
Fast forward to 1969, a rather devastating earthquake rocked the entire region & effectively delayed the introduction of Krone MCC by a whole 20 years. The very 1st Krone Borealis vintage, being 1987, was released in 1991 & so a new generation of MCC's was born.
Something that I quite like about Twee Jonge Gezellen, is that it was in the 1980's that 'night harvesting' was introduced. Specifically as a way to preserve the quality of the grape & the delicate aromas & flavours of all the freshly picked grapes. Still today, this is a tradition that carries on when all the staff get up in the dark of night to pick grapes before dawn & the heat of the day sets in.
I even got to have a private tour around the farm & cellars by winemaker Stephan de Beer.
Did you know that Twee Jonge Gezellen also boast with the very 1st underground cellar in Africa! It was so cool to be able to take a walk in the historic cellar & see MCC in the making, where bottles are stacked in old style pupitre's & are still turned by hand in the process of remuage.
Read more here about how Krone MCC is made. (For those of you who love a glass of bubble, then this is something for you.)
It's no lie that Krone has always been my go-to bubbly. It's always fresh & crisp. My palate prefers the Brut over the Demi Sec, but naturally only because I'm already sweet enough. Definitely an elegant gold colour, with aromas of lemon peel on the nose for me, with a touch of minerality & finished off with a slight biscuity characteristic. On the palate fresh yellow apples & a slight bit of a salted caramel. What I do love about Krone is the mousse. It is fine yet persistent & leaves a refreshing aftertaste.
Definitely to be enjoyed whenever & wherever. For me, no occasion is needed, sometimes that occasion is simply having a bottle of Krone in the wine cooler!
Check out Krone & Twee Jonge Gezellen here.
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