For my birthday this year, Kim surprised me with a day out on the Franschhoek Wine Tram. Over the last two years we’ve often talked about taking one of the “hop on - hop off” winefarm tours and Franschhoek is one of Kim’s favorite wineland areas, so it was the perfect option.

The Wine Tram has multiple lines running on multiple days and each line visits different wine farms in the area. We were booked on the Green Line, which had some of Kim’s favorite wine farms. So, we headed out to catch the 9:30am tram and away we went!

We arrived at the station with about 10 minutes to spare. When you check in, they brief you on how the tram works and then ask you if you plan on buying any wine.

Silly question.

At the station you can purchase a reusable bag for R20 (I think) and when you do, you unlock even more discounts on wine, wine tastings, and wine pairings at the stops along your route. Now, I do have to tell you that this bag is small…like maybe 3 bottles of wine small…but the proceeds to go a good cause and hey…discounts… so we jumped at the chance and boarded the tram where we had our welcome glass of wine at 9:35am.

Grande Provence

The first stop on the tram was Grande Provence.

The estate itself was beautiful and one of the most elegant I’ve been to since I’ve arrived. The garden is full of artwork and the surrounding scenery is nothing short of gorgeous.

We opted for the wine and nougat pairing (pronounced “new gar” and not “new gat”…or so I am told) paired from their Angel Tears collection.

The experience was fabulous and wine was superb. Needless to say we walked out with a case.

Rickety Bridge

Just a few hundred meters down the road was the Rickety Bridge Winery. Another beautiful estate, yet it was a bit more casual and “bistro” like. Here they offered a pre-determined tasting for people on the wine tram to just help speed things along.

The whites were great, but OMG… this wine…The Printer’s Devil…was exceptional. Needless to say we walked out with one of those.

Old Wine Road

Old Wine Road was my favorite stop and my favorite wine of the day. People we had met on the tram had said we should skip it, but we noticed they had a “South African Treat” pairing and had to check it out.

Turns out to be the best decision we made all day. This paired some of their wines with Biltong, Droëwors, Koeksister and Turkish Delight. My absolute favorite was the Le Courier Chenin Blanc which was paired with Koeksister. Absolutely fantastic.

We left that pairing one of their biggest fans, telling everyone they NEED to stop there…and with a case of the Chenin Blanc.
(Are you starting to sense a theme?)

Atlas Swift

After a stop for lunch, we restarted our tour and headed out to Atlas Swift. If your thing is “Chardonnay All Day!” this is the place for you. We were greeted by Welma, one of the owners, and she was very gracious in sharing their story and the story of their wines. They have four different Chardonnays from four different vineyards in the Western Cape. You can really tell the difference in each one, a testament to Martin’s skill and expertise.

Kim and I had a difference of opinion on which Chardonnay was best, so we thought the best thing to do was to come home with some of each.

Mont Rochelle

I’ll be honest… this stop is a bit of a blur…as can happen after a full day of wine tasting. Mont Rochelle is Richard Branson’s hotel and winery in Franschhoek. While on the tram, people were telling us that we absolutely must go to Mont Rochelle for sundowners. Now, I will say it is a beautiful place and the starters we ordered were pretty good… but honestly that’s about what I remember.

We did, however, leave with a couple bottles of wine…naturally.

The End of The Day

After Mont Rochelle, it was time to hop back on the tram and head home.

On the way back, the people on the tram sang Happy Birthday to me…twice…because honestly, I think we were all too out of it to realize we sung it the first time.

The great thing about the wine tram is that you can drop off your wine with the tram staff and they’ll check it in and hold it for you all day and you pick it up when you get back to the station.

Pro: You don’t have to carry it around with you all day.

Con: It’s easy to forget exactly HOW MUCH wine you bought during the experience.

A couple of hours after we got home, I unpacked all the wine we had bought that day.

The Franschhoek Wine Tram is definitely an experience we’ll repeat. With multiple lines and multiple wineries, you can literally never experience the same thing twice.

…although next time we may not attempt as many stops in one day.

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