De Krans

Calitzdorp,  South Africa

CONTINUING A CENTURY OLD FAMILY TRADITION The Nel family, descendants of French Huguenot stock settled on their farm in the well-watered Gamka valley in the Klein Karoo village of Calitzdorp in 1890. After tending vineyards and making wine for over a century, the Nels of DE KRANS (formerly known as Die Krans) are proud of their cellar's wide range of red and white table wines -but proudest of its award-winning Port style wines. Since 1985 most of the classic Portuguese grape varieties, which combine to make this majestic wine have been painstakingly cultivated on the property by the brothers Boets and Stroebel Nel. DE KRANS has won more than four hundred medals and awards since 1980, and has been crowned the Champion Private wine cellar in the Klein Karoo region no less than seven times since 1986, most recently last year in 1998. Famed for both natural and fortified wines, its '95 White Muscadel was voted best wine of the region that vintage, while its 1997 Reserve Port, which is now being offered to the market for sale, achieved a similar accolade that year -the same year that Boets Nel graduated into the august company of Cape Winemasters.

DE KRANS Vintage Reserve Ports are regarded as among the very top wines of this style in South Africa, being highly praised by visiting producers from the cradle of Port, the Douro valley in Portugal. On a recent visit to this Mecca, Boets came to understand even more what makes a top class Port, and has not been slow in translating his experiences into practice. He and Stroebel have broadened the range of Port grape varieties on their property over the years, and each new vintage of DE KRANS Port gains in complexity and authenticity of style. A palette of Tinta Baro a, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Souzao make a complex cocktail of aromas and flavors, as well as depth and complexity in all three of the Port styles produced on the property - the supple Ruby, the more substantial Vintage Port, and the pride of the cellar, the classic Vintage Reserve, only offered when climatic conditions combine to produce fruit of exceptional flavor and quality -1997 was such a year.

As a founder member of the SA Port Producers Association, which encourages its members to strive for wines in the benchmark Portuguese style -not too sweet, and backed with sufficient alcohol to ensure structure and longevity - Boets Nel will only vinify fruit from their oldest and best Port grape vineyards for the Vintage Reserve. And to preserve this fruit all the way to the bottle and beyond, he takes great care not to allow unwanted wood character to swamp the delicious warmth of the fully ripened grapes, which have been carefully vinified in the traditional manner -plenty of color and tannin extraction during the short fermentation period, followed by fortification with fine brandy spirit in amounts carefully measured to result in a Port of classical proportions - 88 to 93 gms/l of sugar, and an alcohol content of between 19 and 20 percent. The '97 Reserve spent 16 months in a mixture of old 4000 liter vats and 500 liter barrels, followed by a brief rest in tank before bottling.

The 1997 DE KRANS Reserve was awarded a Gold Medal at the National Young Wine Show that year, as well as being crowned Overall Champion Wine at the Klein Karoo Young Wine Show. DE KRANS VINTAGE RESERVE PORT 1997 shows a vibrant plum color, with dense aromas of prune, spice and tobacco. A fleshy, chewy mouthful of flavors, showing tannic grip, concentrated red fruit nuances, and a firm structure ensuring considerable longevity. Described as "potential 5 star wine" in the 1999 Platter Guide when tasted as a tank sample. Made from 90% Tinta Barocca from vineyards established twenty-four years ago, together with 10% of a blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Souzao. Alc: 19.2%, Residual sugar 88 gms/l. Presented in imported Portuguese 750ml bottles, with individually silk-screened labels.