Franschhoek

Franschhoek bills itself as the gourmet capital of the Western Cape for good reason – there’s a restaurant, café or bistro every few minutes in the town’s main street. 60 km away from Cape Town lies the picture-book destination of Franschhoek. It is surrounded by an awesome natural splendour – it’s a valley enclosed on three sides by towering mountains: on the south-west the Groot Drakenstein, on the south-east the Franschhoek and on the north-east the Wemmershoek Mountains. These mountains give the various wine farms very different profiles. And the range of clay, decomposed granite and sandy alluvial soils are being more consciously exploited. A decade ago the valley had 19 wineries - nowadays there are 32!

Franschhoek is where the French Huguenots first made wine in South Africa 300 years ago. Today, that noble tradition is carried forward by members of the Vignerons de Franschhoek, including some of South Africa's most respected names, who produce many of South Africa's top wines.

The prominent valley is only about 5km wide with a typical Mediterranean climate with an annual rainfall in excess of 800mm. The enclosed nature of the valley combined with the average February temperature of 23.5°C indicates that it is a warmer region, comparable to the Stellenbosch area. However the changing aspects provided by the mountains surrounding the pocket provides various sites for cultivation and vines are planted from the valley floor to elevations as high as 600m above sea level.

Franschhoek’s white wines are very fruity, particularly Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Chardonnays produced from the fruit on the South facing slopes are chalky with mineral tones while the centre of the valley Chardonnay shows tangy citrus and tropical fruit with structured examples from Glenwood and Mont Rochelle. A fine example of single varietal Sauvignon Blanc from this area comes from Boschendal.

The red wines from the Franschhoek area are medium textured with concentrated fruit (dark berries, plums), generally soft and ripe tannins and gentle minty undertones. Merlot produces ripe fruit with savoury notes. Franschhoek seems favourable for Shiraz with the wines showing attractive violet and smokey beef characteristics with a lengthy finish. See La Motte and Boekenhoutskloof for outstanding single varietals.

In the west towards the entrance of the valley the soil and differences in aspects are reflected in the wines. The red wines can be characterised as medium bodied with silky tannins and expressive fruit while the white wines are generally pleasantly perfumed and very accessible. Cabernet Sauvignon is especially popular, showing dense dark berry fruit and firm tannins, with powerful single varietals coming from Graham Beck, Plaisir de Merle and Boschendal. These three also produce classic flagships in the form of red blended wines showing velvet fruit supported by sensitive oaking with a firm tannin backbone. Classic noble varietals are blended with new comers such as Mourvèdre, Malbec and Pinotage, like Graham Beck William Wine (Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc/Pinotage).

Cabriére is one of South Africa’s pioneering bubbly producers and have an entire range dedicated to its production with the Pierre Jourdan. A few bubblies have been included in this Mixed Franschhoek case which gives you a range of wines from the region allowing you to find out for yourself what the Franschhoek valley tastes like.

Sources: South African Wines Terroir & Travel by Elmari Swart & Izak Smit Franschhoek Wine Route Wine.co.za John Platter Wine Guide 2008