Thursday, March 25, 2021

MENU visits Franschhoek. Four days of farm and restaurant visits

Heavy rain falling on the GlenWood wine estate, Franschhoek

We were given a very kind gift by friends who live in Carlisle in England. They are swallows and have not been able to come back to their flat here for two summers due to Covid. Every year they also book a self catering place in Franschhoek for two weeks, for which they prepay. They had hoped to come again this year but the UK went into lock down just as they were about to travel. So they offered us and a couple of other people their time at Sunny Lane.....

Three nights at Sunny Lane Guest House

We waited a few days to see if the others had booked it out before phoning, but no one had yet reserved any time. We are wary of booking at weekends, now that we are on Schedule 1 and people can travel. Our Wedding Anniversary was coming up, so Lynne thought we might as well celebrate it there and booked us in on the Monday 8th, departing on Thursday, 11th March. It seems that Franschhoek is very, very busy at weekends, so we had a marvellous time in a rather quiet village, which was exactly what we wanted.  Read on...


We began our days in Franschhoek with a visit to Colmant, one of Franschhoek’s best Cap Classique producers. Owner Jean-Philippe Colmant has won many awards for his sparkling wines. and has renowned winemaker Paul Gerber on board and Pieter (Bubbles) Ferreira as a consultant, a winning combination. Read on...

We called in at La Cotte Inn Wine Sales / Fromages de France, to speak to Ludwig and Lodine Maske and buy some cheese. Life has not been easy for them, prevented, like everyone else in the business, from selling alcohol for so many months. Ludwig is very knowledgeable about wine and he has some interesting wines at the moment, well priced. Read on...

One of the reasons we decided to go to Franschhoek on Monday the 8th of March was that it was our 18th wedding anniversary and this seemed like the ideal way to celebrate to it. We would be there when there were not many people about. Franschhoek is nicely busy at weekends and we are avoiding being with any sort of crowd. The downside is that many restaurants do not open until Thursday or Friday and the weekend, so our choices were limited. We have been to several of the Chef's Warehouse restaurants and were very happy to discover that their Maison restaurant is open on Mondays. (they close on Tuesday and Wednesday). Read on...

Cellar Tour and Tasting at Rickety Bridge

Tuesday dawned damp and grey, so we were pleased that we had invitations to wine farms to fill our day. First to Rickety Bridge, where you can stay at the Manor House, visit the winery to taste the wines and eat in their restaurant, Paulina’s. Read on...

Tasting Mullineux and Leeu Wines with Chris Mullineux

Then a visit to the Leeu Estate to see Chris Mullineux and taste the Mullineux and Leeu family wines, kindly arranged for us by Nicolette Waterford. The grounds are quite magnificent, as are the views... Read on...

Sushi Lunch at GlenWood

It had rained heavily overnight and there was a mist above the valley when we set out on Wednesday for GlenWood, down Robertsvlei Road. We know their excellent wines and had been invited to come and sample their excellent Gourmet Sushi. Everyone in Franschhoek to whom we mentioned that we were going there said you will really enjoy it; the sushi is very good. And it was.. Read on...

Tasting with Irene Waller at La Bri

A visit to La Bri in Franschhoek happened on Thursday morning of our visit. We had not told them that we were coming, as we did not think we would have the time, but we did manage to clean, pack and move out of our accommodation at Sunny Lane by 10 am. We were not due at our lunch appointment until 12. Read on...

Lunch and tasting with the von Arnims at Haute Cabrière

Our final stop on our Franschhoek four day extravaganza was a visit to Haute Cabrière. We have known the family for many, many years and were so looking forward to seeing them after quite a while, doing a tasting with Cellarmaster Takuan von Arnim and having lunch with Achim and Hildegard von Arnim. The rain was over, the valley was looking beautiful. They do have some of the very best views of Franschhoek. Read on...

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