Franschhoek

Franschhoek

Huguenot Monument, FranschhoekFranschhoek lies in a contained valley, a pretty town founded by the French Huguenots in 1688. Today it is very much a region of boutique wineries with old buildings and small producers. Stylish cellars include La Motte, Cabrière, Plaisir de Merle and Boekenhoutskloof.  The Franschhoek Wine Route Tram came into being in 2012 using tracks originally laid down in 1904. It operates on a hop-on-hop-off basis along a variery of routes each stopping at a wide range of wine estates for wine tastings, picnics or lunch. Certainly makes for a fun day out. 

Perhaps the most amazing wine tasting experience in the Cape is at  The Wine Studio at Leeu Estates where one can experience amazing wines made by Chris and Andrea Mullineux in extraordinarily beautiful surroundings - this really is very special.

The village of Franschhoek mainly consists of one long street lined with art galleries, fine craft shops, trendy cafés and some very smart restaurants.  Le Quartier Francais, with world famous chef Margot Janse, has long been one of the best restaurants in South Africa. When Margot retired, La Petite Colombe took over this space last year under the guidance of Scot Kirton, legendary chef-restaurateur at Constantia's La Colombe famed establishment. Along with Maison, Dubliner Liam Tomlin's latest opening, Franschhoek continues it's great culinary traditon in this long established wine valley.

 

 

About Kinnegar

Kinnegar Wines was born almost by accident and been growing organically since.

In 1998, I was in the midde of a two year diploma course with the London Wine & Spirits Trust when an opportunity came up to visit South Africa's Western Cape. Naturally, I was keen to avail of the opportunity to learn more about viticulture and winemaking in South Africa.

We had an excellent guide who brought us to a number of the Cape's leading estates including Thelema and De Trafford where we had in depth vineyard and cellars tours. At the end of the day, I wanted to take back some of the wonderful wines we had tasted for our own use. It was not possible to take two or three cases of wine with us on our flight and shipping such a small quantity was more than the cost of wines. So I had the mad idea of shipping a pallet! Clearly, I had to start selling these wines and so began Kinnegar Wines. Ashford Castle took many of the wines and continue to list them and newer arrivals ever since.

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