11 am in Haute Cabrière’s
reception area, waiting for the tour to start
The cellar tour begins
Listening to how the wines are made
It is held in the vaulted
cellar where you can see the reception area above
The cathedral like barrel
cellar
Lots of activity in the
packing area
A chandelier made of Dom
Perignon bottles, reputedly all drunk at the births of the von Arnim children
It makes the most
wonderful shadows on the ceiling
Sit on a church pew in the
private tasting area
Barrels being brought in for the harvest
This is the small stack of Fine de Jourdan potstill brandy kegs
We tasted the wines
Our guide shows us how to
do sabrage on a wine bottle
The cork flies off
effortlessly
Tasting their wonderful
Pinot Noir
Neat place to hang your
sabre between uses
A niche displaying the
range of MCC bubblies
The magnificent view from
Haute Cabriere
You can taste wine out on
the terrace and enjoy the view
A view of the mountains
looking across their full dam
We board our first "Tram" bus
Our guide tells us which
is the next stop and we are off
The tasting room at Dieu
Donne (translation: God’s Gift)
with their magnificent Venetian glass chandelier
with their magnificent Venetian glass chandelier
Deciding which wines to
taste
The lawn outside the
tasting room
The restaurant terrace
with lots of shade
Dieu Donne also has a
micro brewery. Next time, we will be
there to taste the beers
The Specials menu for the
day looks quite tempting, especially Eisbein with a beer
Some beautiful sandstone tiles with embedded fossils on
the walkway to the restaurant
Chamonix de-stemmer, ready for the
arrival of the grapes
The restaurant at Chamonix
A selection of spirits in
the bar
Their specials menu of the
day
The normal menu. Because
Caesar salad appeared twice at different prices, we misunderstood that the
Tapas were only available in the Wine tasting area. A pity, we would have
ordered them
Their proud display of
Platter 5 star awards for their wines
They serve good chewy
fresh bread
The stream below the deck
A view of the tables on
the deck
Lynne’s perfectly cooked
calves liver on mash
John’s Duck confit on Puy
lentils
Double espresso with tiny
cakes
Our bill. They calculate
the tip for you.....
View of the very rustic
restaurant
Sommeliers selection
Their tasting centre.
There is a charge to taste the wines
Outside the tasting room
where you can await the next tram bus
A quick peek into the
working wine cellar in harvest time
We join the tram which
runs on the train lines through the vineyards
They don’t have to turn it
around, all the seats reverse in an instant. Here we are waiting to be off on
the adventure. Lovely warm weather
The view from the tram of
the vineyards and Franschhoek as you move slowly along. It is a magical trip
This year is a busy and
fruitful harvest due to all the rain we had last winter and a nice slow
ripening period
The tram uses the old, decommissioned, railway line and some of the old station signs can be seen along the way
The tram stops at Grande Provence, where you have to walk for about 15 minutes in the hot sun to reach the tasting room
At the last stop, you are transported by road to Rickety Bridge; after tasting there you are taken back to board the tram again and return to Franschhoek.
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013
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