Stellenbosch gets most of the attention for wine regions in South Africa, known especially for their Pinotage wines. There is a lesser-known region just a half-hour away from Stellenbosch called Franschhoek (French Corner). We set out from Cape Town for a weekend of wine tasting in Franschhoek with friends. Along the way, we stopped in Stellenbosch at the Stellenbosch Slow Market which is open on Saturday mornings. This market is full of vendors selling coffee, beer, baked goods, all kinds of different food, as well as crafts and some really wonderful art. There are picnic style tables in the center so you can eat whatever you decide on. We picked up some biltong and droëwors to snack (inspired this recipe!) on during the day and ate at a Turkish food stall for breakfast/lunch before heading out.
Wine Tram in Franschhoek:
In Franschhoek, there is a wine tram that you can purchase tickets and take for the day. The tram has several lines so you can choose which line you want and that will determine which wineries you can stop at. You can hop on and off the tram depending on which wineries you want to go to. The mountains around the wineries are beautiful and the tram has an open-air area which was great for taking pictures along the way. One thing to be mindful of is that the tram is on a schedule so it drops you off and comes back to pick you up approximately 45 minutes later. If the winery is full or a large group gets off the tram with you if may take a while to get through your tasting. The wineries do tend to pour one wine at a time vs pouring all your tastings out for you when you arrive. It normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but for us, it meant rushing the last few to make sure we didn’t miss the tram. The tasting portions were generous at all the stops we made. There are eight hop on, hop off lines you can choose from. Here is the link for the website for more information: https://winetram.co.za/tours/
We chose the orange line and stopped at the following wineries:
Noble Hill: This was our first stop of the day. We were one of the only small groups there during our tasting. we sat outside on the patio for our tasting. This is a great place to relax, enjoy your tasting or a glass of wine and take in the views of the surrounding Simonsberg mountains. The winery also has two Rhodesian Ridgeback winery dogs. These dogs are very friendly but also very large. they won’t bother you if you aren’t a dog lover but if you are they are more than happy to let you pet them!
Babylonstoren: This winery is a traditional Cape Dutch farm. The winery and restaurant are a combination of Cape Dutch architecture and more contemporary features. The restaurant has large floor to ceiling glass windows all around it which show off the views of the surrounding vines and mountains. We took more time at this stop so we could have a small lunch as well as our tasting. We particularly enjoyed the Shiraz and the Viognier.
Plaisir de Merle: This wine tasting was in a beautiful old farmhouse. The wine was good, but the service wasn’t awesome – we waited a while to be served and then we were very rushed in order to make the tram. The server also didn’t give any details about the wine, just poured and left. I would go back, but it wasn’t the best one we went to.
Allee Bleue: Our last stop of the day. We particularly loved their Brut Rose and all of their reds were also very good. This was also the only winery we went to that had Pinotage believe it or not. It is apparently more of a Stellenbosch varietal. We really liked their Pinotage and actually left with a bottle.
We spent the night at a hostel in town and then in the morning we went to one more winery before heading back to Cape Town. We stopped at the Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons Winery which had wonderful reds and was fun for us since we had been to the Rothschild family-owned winery in Chile so we now have a bottle from each trip in our cellar at home. We left with a bottle of Baron Edmond which is a Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend. The winery has a nice patio area as well as a very large and beautifully decorated, modern tasting room. We also got to taste the Flechas De Los Andes Gran Corte 2011 which is a Malbec, Syrah (Shiraz if your one of THOSE people :-)), Cabernet Sauvignon blend from the Rothschild winery in Argentina. This wine was not for sale at the winery in Franschhoek but we would definitely recommend it or if you can find it for sale in the U.S.
Here are links to our other South Africa posts:
- Cape Town Essentials
- Road Trip – Cape Peninsula South Africa
- Muizenberg and Kalk Bay – Beach Towns in the Western Cape South Africa
- IVHQ Surf Outreach
Tell us your favorite places to wine taste in South Africa, leave us a comment below!