Winetram in Franschhoek

Today we met at about 10 o'clock at Studer's accommodation, Ashford House, and walked together to the platform of the Winetram in Franschhoek. After exchanging the reservation for tickets, we got on the bus.

The first stop was Haute Cabriére vineyard, where we had our first tasting (2 x sparkling wine, 2 x white wine, and one red wine, with a platter of cold cuts and cheese). The wine was okay, but it didn't completely convince us.

After about an hour, we continued on the bus to Le Lude vineyard. Here, we could only taste bubbles (i.e., Cape sparkling wine made using the MCC method). We ordered some canapés to go with the sparkling wine. The sparkling wine was of better quality than the one at Haute Cabriére. We spent an hour here as well until the bus picked us up and took us to the Winetram platform.

We continued with the Winetram until we reached the final stop, Rickety Bridge, where we were picked up by a tractor. It took us to the vineyard of the same name. Here, we tasted two white wines and two red wines, accompanied by cheese. After an hour, we moved on. We returned to the tram's final stop with the tractor and then continued with the bus to Eikenhof.

Eikenhof is one of the smaller wineries, but very family-run. Upon arrival, everyone was given a glass of rosé. In addition to wine, they also grow fruit, and currently, it is peach harvesting season. Here, we chose to have a small tasting of 3 wines in the courtyard. The chickens roam freely in the courtyard, squirrels play in the trees, and there are owls with young in the trees. Helena discovered and captured the South African national flower.

We were starting to have enough of the wine tastings, so after another hour, we left Eikenhof, which both Helena and I liked very much. We took the bus again and made our way to the last two wineries and the final stop of the Winetram. It brought us back to Franschhoek, where we stopped at Bahnhof's Pub for a beer with Study.

In the evening, our table awaits us at 'La petite Colombe,' undoubtedly the best restaurant in town, if not in all of South Africa.