You can't really miss our next stop, the name of it is even inscribed into the mountainside! Franschhoek, or translated from the Dutch, "French Corner" is a famous wine region tucked away in a valley north of Cape Town. In 1688 hundreds of French Protestants (who we being persecuted in their homeland) fled to South Africa, collectively they were known as "Huguenots" a name that is thought to be derived from the political leader and Genevan burgomaster, Besançon Hugues. In 1685 King Louis XIV banned Protestantism in France and many were forced to flee, almost 300 arrived at the Cape by ship and were given the Franschhoek valley to settle, they bought with them their French culture including, critically, wine making!
We managed to find our hotel with ease and checked into our room, it wasn't late so we decided to go for a walk into town. The setting of the town is amazing, surrounded by mountains and littered with Dutch colonial buildings, their whitewashed facades gleaming in the brilliant sunshine. The valley is lined with vineyards and there are many restaurants, wine shops and tasting rooms up and down the main strip, the French influence is strong here, most of the menus feature the French "Classics" like snails and "cock au vin" etc. although I suspect that's more for the tourists than inherited from the original Huguenots (who would have been forcibly assimilated by first the Dutch and then the English)
Coincidentally while walking through the town we came across a couple who were on the same safari as us, we had a lovely lunch with them, lots of chatting while quaffing Chardonnay and soaking up the African sun! In the evening we made our way out to one of the three craft beer breweries in the area for some beer and some food, it was great and really good value, the beer was a little "conventional" but perfectly acceptable, I snapped the picture below of their "kit", it all looked pretty pristine and modern, business must be good!
The following day we awoke early and after a nice breakfast met up with our tour guide for the day. I'd booked a private wine tour with a driver (and wine enthusiast) and he was going to take us around his favourite wineries and cook us a BBQ lunch up in the hills! I was keen to get going and our first stop was a thirty minute drive over the mountains down into Stellenbosch and a top producer called Vergelegen!
When we arrived we couldn't believe it, such a beautiful place, big old Dutch colonial architecture buildings set in manicured gardens that looked straight out of the palace of Versailles! (see picture above, the tasting room is only left) We were invited into the tasting room and sat down at a table over looking the view (RHS) above, four wines were delivered to us and each one was described and introduced by our host and the tasting began!
First up (from left to right) we had the estate white (a classic Bordeaux blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc) then the estate red (classic Bordeaux blend of Cab. Sav., Merlot and Cab Franc) followed up by the big hitting reserve wine called "Vergelegen V" This one was also a classic Bordeaux blend but had seen more love and French Oak! All three wines were delicious, particularly the "V" which I'd had before back home, I remember seeing it on offer in Tesco many years ago for £20 a bottle, I snapped up their entire stock (I've never seen it there since!) Today you'd struggle to get a bottle of this for less than £100, triple that in a London restaurant! Lastly our host bought out a bottle of Chardonnay, it was banging! Perfect balance, good use of new Oak and great weight and finish, I must see if I can get a bottle or two of this in London somewhere!
After the tasting we had a wander around the grounds, amazing place, lot's of old buildings that used to house everything from the Governor of the Cape's snooker room through to his slaves quarters! The gardens were to die for, those original settlers must have thought they'd made a little slice of heaven for themselves (I was reminded that they had plenty of unpaid labour to help them!!)
We were off to an incredible start to our day, next stop was a place called "Waterford Estate", also in Stellenbosch but a completely different vibe!
As we drew up to the front door the place looked like it had been beamed up from Tuscany! A huge courtyard surrounded by terracotta tiled buildings with big old stone pillars, it was lovely, we took up our place at a table in the corner of the square and our host bought out the first of the wines to taste.
This time we had some Shiraz to try, this particular grape varietal tends to match well with chocolate and before we could say Syrah there were some little chocolate bars in front of us, the pairing was clearly a well trodden path and predictably was delicious! Next up a couple of Cabernet based wines classic Bordeaux blends from two different vintages, both cracking but the 2019 was special! (so much so I had to bring a bottle home with me)
Next up the top wine from this estate, another Cabernet based blend but, again, more French oak and more love in the selection and production, a wine called "The Gem" (below) both totally delicious and easily my favourite pick from this producer.
After the tasting we were getting peckish so we headed up to the national park above Stellenbosch and a little camp site where our host had previously set up a BBQ and a selection of Karoo lamb and salads to help absorb the plentiful wine samples from the morning. Of course we had to stop off at a little shop on the way to lunch, toilet break?, no, to buy a bottle of wine to have with lunch of course!
After lunch we headed out to our final stop for the day, a little producer called "Rainbows End" a rather unlikely name until you see where their taproom is situated (see above) I've been to many wine tastings over the years, all over the world, but this one has to have the best view so far! Incredible scenery and also one of the best Cabernet Franc wines I think I've ever tried (see below) a great wine and a great day out, can't wait to come back for more one day!
After a long day of supping we retired back to our hotel for some R&R and later headed out to town for some dinner with our Safari buddies, a top day.
This wasn't my last wine tasting though, the next day I booked a tasting just up the road from our lodgings in Franschhoek, when in Rome etc., at a winery called Leeu Passant. Again such a beautiful setting, I settled into a rather plush tasting room with leather chairs and air-conditioning for a line up of four wines (see below)
From left to right we have, Chardonnay (lovely, very Burgundian), Cinsault (unusual blend, tasty), Cab. Sav. (Classic, v. good) and finally a sweet wine made from Chenin grapes, delicious. This was a super tasting, top quality stuff and a gorgeous setting (see below) This really is wine country!
The next day we headed back to Cape Town and our flight back to London in the evening. As I mentioned in an earlier post in this series we revisited our friends from Constantia and had a lovely lunch with them at the Steenberg winery, bellies full and feeling slightly sad (could have easily spent another month here!) to be leaving this stunning country, we headed to the airport where our flight was waiting, overnight to Heathrow and a rather
chilly February morning!
