Wines from South Africa by Kronendal

Piet is a mechanical engineer, a brilliant mentor, husband and friend. He studied botany and later attended various courses in viticulture and wine care.

The first harvest on the Boutique winery Kronendal was 2006 and sorting the grapes took much longer than expected. The Kroon family and friends came to help. At 2 o'clock in the morning on a weekday, Magdaleen marvelled at the passion and dedication of her loved ones. That was the inspiration for the name of the blend: Mirari: To marvel at.

The Atlantic Ocean is 12 kilometres away as the crow flies, so the Kronendal Boutique Winery benefits from a relatively cool climate. The vineyard is located on a north-eastern slope and is surrounded by hills that provide sufficient sunlight and warmth for the grapes to ripen optimally. The soil has an excellent water storage capacity.

Kronendal produces only one wine - MIRARI.
A blend of Shiraz, Mourvèdre, Viognier and Tempranillo.
The harvest begins with Tempranillo, usually at the end of February. At the beginning of March, a team of seventeen ladies help to harvest the Shiraz and Viognier as early as possible. Three boys do the heavy lifting and load the crates onto Saartjie, the beloved old Landrover. Magdaleen's dad drives the grapes to the cellar to keep them cool. The most time-consuming task is sorting the grapes.

For the rest of the day and in the coming days, each bunch of grapes is carefully inspected. The green, broken or overripe berries are removed. Small cries in between usually indicate the discovery of an insect or a spider, which means that the protein content of the wine is lower than it would be without sorting. The Mourvèdre is harvested last and, apart from Shiraz and Viognier, the varieties are vinified separately.