Franschhoek's outstanding wine estate
Cape Chamonix on tasting today from noon at our Bishopsgate shop
Franschhoek - literally, the "French corner" - lays claim to be South Africa's culinary capital. So what went wrong with the wine?
Many of the properties are run as lifestyle estates for wealthy absent owners. Others are more concerned with their restaurants and/or tourist accommodation. Much of the vineyard lies on the flat valley floor and simply isn't capable of producing interesting wine. At present, only two wineries are consistently producing top quality wines. And only one of those is a true "estate" because the other - Boekenhoutskloof - buys most of its fruit from elsewhere.
Against this backdrop, what's most amazing about the wines of Cape Chamonix is that they rival the very best from anywhere in South Africa: the Reserve Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are both among the country's top 5 examples. But then winemaker Gottfried Mocke, pictured with his assistant, Emul Ross, is a committed Burgophile (he's soon to present a Burgundy tasting for the Winemakers Guild featuring the likes of Leflaive and Roulot). Nevertheless, the entire range here is outstanding. Gottfried is an intelligent, enterprising and articulate winemaker, who talks candidly about his domain. On our visit last week, we learnt that he thinks Cabernet Franc works much better on the estate than Cabernet Sauvignon; that he's abandoning their sparkling wine because their Chardonnay's better utilised in table wine; and of the fun he's had trying to make something of Pinotage, resulting in Greywacke, an unlikely combination of under- and over-ripe grapes. Join us today to see just what can be achieved in this beautiful but underperforming corner of The Cape. /AR
