The Krone Tasting Room bar review - Cape Town, South Africa

While Cape Town’s winelands suffer no shortage of lush estates, few have successfully fused the area’s Cape Dutch heritage with contemporary design in their original settings. Krone’s reimagining of its Twee Jonge Gezellen farm was a two-year project in which architect Rick Stander looked at how the estate’s interlinking buildings could find new purpose. Along with interior designer Tracy Lynch, Stander needed to refresh the space without losing any of its three-century spanning history.

The outcome – a newly renovated tasting room – is accessed via the farm’s earliest entrance, before guiding visitors through glass doors and into the arched entryway of the reception area, overhung by a woven metallic light cluster. Acknowledging the architecture of the national monument, whitewashed walls and clean design leave the Cape Dutch legacy untouched, hosting a gallery-like space in which nothing feels permanent. A rotating collection of modern artwork is anchored around freestanding industrial design pieces and metal sculpture in the deliberately minimalist rooms, tied together by a theme of spherical motifs that manifest throughout the decor. Take it in from the raised terrace while looking out over the valley with a glass of one of the best vintage-only bubbles South Africa has to offer.