We’ve finally recovered from the mayhem of the the Uncorked Festival in Franschoek, that we can now put in words what we’ve experienced.
After our very cozy evening spent all huddled up by the fire in one of La Chataigne’s amazing guest cottages, we were all fresh and ready the next morning to take on some of the wineries. Luckily the weather gods were good to us – the storms of the previous day had blown away and left us with a beautiful sunny day to look forward to. We picked up our Uncorked Weekend Pass at the tourist office in the village and headed to our first stop – where else but at La Chataigne. The wines they have on offer are easy drinking and delightful tastes, so we were looking forward to what Richard Parkfelt had in store for us with his new wines ready for release. We enjoyed their 2012 Sauvigon Blanc as well as the 2011 release, which we still prefer. The 2012 Rosé was a winner and we picked up a bottle to enjoy at home.
When drinking wine, saving the best for last is not always a good idea (obviously depending on how much you’ve had before), so our next stop had to be Haute Cabrière, where we knew the wine is going to be out of this world. Little did we know, this was the beginning of the end. Just as we had finished our set of mouthwatering tastings, we bumped into Takuan von Arnim – cellarmaster of the winery and friend to one of our mates in the group. I stopped counting the Tranquiles, Pinot Noires, Bruts and Chardonnay Pinot Noires that followed and had generously been poured by our host. Needless to say we hardly made it to any other wineries yet there was just enough space and sanity to fit in Boekenhoutskloof and their famous Chocolate Block. Traditionally this is the last Uncorked stop on most peoples list, so it’s always expected to be a party. We barely managed to sip on a glass of the famous chocolatey red and after munching away 3 portions of chips with mayo we called it a day.
Admittedly this weekend was more of a La Chataigne and Haute Cabrière party for us – but we shall not complain over our spoiled palates. Besides, this gives us a good excuse to return to Franschoek again soon to experience what other wineries have on offer. No – we really can’t complain about that!