Day 9 Wine Tram in Franschhoek by Simi

Today was an early start for… not what you’re expecting… wine tasting. So we had a great breakfast at Le Petit Paris with our view from our window of the Eiffel Tower! It was old school in the fact you got given a a menu chit with a pen and marked off what you wanted! Yogurt and fruit for me with eggs and sour dough- a good lining for the day ahead!

There are SO many stunning vineyards and estates here! As well as visiting them independently you can also take part in the Franschhoek tram and bus tour - you just choose your route and the tram takes you hopping between wine estates in the gorgeous Franschhoek Valley, and we didn’t need to worry about a designated driver!

We chose the navy blue line. So we booked the first tram-845am! Just so we could experience as many of the vineyards as we could. The Franschhoek Navy Line features a selection of 8 wine farms along its route. We managed to squeeze in 5!

Alle Bleu
We arrived there at an alarmingly early hour so figured we should choose one of the paired tastings to soften the fact we were boozing by 930am!
We opted for the chocolate and wine pairing for me and Matt took the biltong one. We had the place to ourselves and sat outside in the warm glow of the sublight admiring the vineyards. Needless to say we bought some wine!

We met the tram bus punctually after an hour and moved onto our next estate of choice . We also found an hour to be enough time at a wine farm to enjoy a tasting at a leisurely pace.

Bartinney
This one is known for the best views, lived up to its reputation. The highlight is the terrace with sweeping views of the Banhoek Valley, vineyards and mountains. We tried three wines – Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. They were meant to have a gin tasting but not today. Arushi enjoyed the berry blast gin and tonic. You guessed it - We bought more wine!we found out this vineyard owes Le Plaisir.. another one en route .

Le Pommier
Another lovely little estate which again offered some paired tastings so we went for the pizza bites for one and the African bites for another. Yummy and yup we bought more wines!

Boschendal
This one was one we had heard of as this wine in readily available at home. This was a huge estate and we had actually pre booked picnics in the grounds. Wow what a set up.
We had pre ordered picnic basket for us all (or rather a box) filled with treats. You can sit on the lawn chairs and picnic on the ground, or you can take a seat on a more conventional chair at an outdoor table. 

The picnic baskets are generously stocked with sandwiches, salads, snacks, and drinks and, of course, no vineyard picnic would be complete without a Glass of the estate’s award-winning wine. The picnic was SO huge the staff who were clearly accustomed to this , kindly supplied us with doggy bags to pack up our left overs.

We actually ran out of time again sadly so guess what no wine purchasing here (apart from at the picnic! )The Boschendal Farm Shop was stunning and we spent a small fortune here stocking up on locally-made food and drink.Right it was time to catch the tram to our final vineyard

Vrede and Lust
We really had run out of time here as the last tram was leaving not long after we had arrived .. enough time to guzzle our last trio of one ( and yes buy our final wines!) This place gets it names Vrede en Lust (Peace and Delight/Eagerness) from nurturing visions of a rural paradise where the original owner could spend his last days.
We deffo noticed a difference in the atmosphere in this tasting room too- noisier, more falling over! I think everyone was pretty drunk! Surprising you might say! 🥴
The children were brilliant all day- Arushi tried as much as she liked and we think there was even some white and red she almost liked! The boys sampled a little here and there.
The weather was glorious, the service amazing and it was just a really nice chilled day.

So rather sozzled and pretty tired,
We headed back to our mini Parisian home stay with all our wine purchases and 2 huge bags of picnic left overs and settled in to the TV room with a fire ( the temperature had dropped rather fiercely) and our left over picnic and watched Happy Gilmore 2… a movie with so many cameos whom I did not recognise as I’m neither a golfing fiend or youthful sadly! Still it was all good.. Matt and I passed on the wine with dinner and just had cups of tea instead! Maybe no surprise!Read more