House of Krone: A sparkling affair

Last Saturday we headed 120 km north of Cape Town to the little town of Tulbagh – famous for the 1969 earthquake – to enjoy the first ever House of Krone Summer Elegance event. The Tulbagh valley has quietly but persistently been producing some remarkable wines, and is making a name for itself as a region in South Africa, so I was looking forward to seeing what they had to offer.

On the way we swung by Saronsberg, a stunning, newly built cellar that also houses an art exhibition. The wines were delicious and I managed to leave with a bottle of the Saronsberg Sauvignon Blanc 2007 and their bordeaux blend Provenance Rooi 2006 – smooth and fruity. Saronsberg’s wines are big, bold and fruity, as you’d expect from a valley where the temperature heads into the forties in the summer. Specifically the Seismic 2005 is going to kick ass in a year or two

Having whet our appetites we headed on up the valley to the House of Krone at Twee Jonge Gezellen – famous for years for their Night Harvest label, the grapes are literally harvested at night to avoid the punishing heat.

Speaking of heat, thank goodness for the shower of fine mist from the sprays on the balcony where we spent the afternoon sipping Cap Classique, eating sushi from Wasabi, strawberries and nougat. None of us tried the oysters, but I was assured they were delicious.

The R 60 entry fee got you a book of tickets that you could exchange for taster size portions of Krone Borealis Cuvee Brut 2004 and Krone Rose Cuvee Brut 2001. We quickly abandoned that idea as the relaxed setting was not conducive to leaping up and down for refills. So we, and I think most other people there, opted to buy the bubbly by the bottleful instead.

On our way out we swapped the rest of our tickets for a final glass each of Cap Classique which we enjoyed as we strolled around the grounds having a look at the fashion show and vintage cars.

The Rose – delicately salmon coloured wine, fruity, with a smooth creamy mousse – was everyone’s favourite, judging by the number of bottles our group consumed anyway!

On the way back to Tulbagh was dropped in at the Boulders Bush Pub on the Vondoux guest farm. Nice spot for sundowners, but a disaster when we returned later that evening for dinner. They clearly hadn’t factored in the number of visitors that day and the bar, waiting and kitchen staff were struggling to cope.

A quick dessert at Paddagang – we returned the next day to try out the hilariously frog themed wines – and we turned in for the night at the Tulbagh Hotel. The hotel is brilliantly located in the centre of town on Van der Stel street – I wish we had had more time to explore the streets and quirky looking galleries and shops. Recently refurbished, the rooms are lovely and comfortable, with a cut above your usual guest house standard fittings and so on. The pub downstairs is relaxed and service generally was friendly and helpful. They are in the process of building a pool which would be a fabulous addition (did I mention it gets HOT in Tulbagh) and I would check if air con has been installed before booking there in summer.

All in all a great mini-break just before the madness of the festive season really kicks in. I hope the team at Krone make this an annual affair.