A vintage day out on the Franschhoek Wine Tram

I’m getting ripened berries. I’m getting tones of dark chocolate. I’m getting flavours of mature oak. Actually I wasn’t getting anything as I had a cold, but one thing was certain. I was getting drunker by the minute, and thankfully I didn’t have to drive!

The Franschhoek Wine Tram has to be the best invention. EVER! The scenic hop-on hop-off tour takes visitors to estates all over the picturesque Franschhoek valley, enabling wannabe wine buffs to really experience what they can do with grapes around here, without having to worry about transport.

Franschhoek

We’ve had fun wine tasting in Stellenbosch and Paarl but Franschhoek is leagues ahead when it comes to variety and accessibility of estates. It’s a delightful little valley, guarded on all sides by imposing mountains and is very simple to navigate around. The town is a culinary heaven with enough restaurants, wine estates and delis to last a dedicated researcher several weeks, if not months! Alas we had just a few days so what better way to experience the landscape and it’s fruits than a day on the Franschhoek Wine Tram.

The Franschhoek Wine Tram transport

Wine ‘Tram’ is a bit misleading. There are actually only 2 estates serviced by the Franschhoek Wine Tram (Rickety Bridge and Grand Provence). The rest are by trolley busses, which are still fun but they most definitely run on wheels rather than tracks!

The tram lines don’t run right to the estate front doors so rather delightfully you get picked up by a vintage tractor for a short trundle through the vineyards between Rickety Bridge and Grand Provence. Probably my favourite mode of transport!

The Franschhoek Wine Tram Tours

There are two routes to choose from on the Franschhoek Wine Tram – the blue or the red, each exploring different sides of the valley. Both start at the ticket office in town (you can’t miss it, being shaped like a tram!) and both visit Rickety Bridge and Grand Provence by tram. You need to decide whether you want to do the tram bit first or last…we opted for first since the sun was shining and it was the one bit we didn’t want to miss!

We chose the Blue Route, for no reason other than it’s my favourite colour, and because we really wanted to check out the newly opened Mont Rochelle, now under new ownership of Virgin, one of our favourite brands.

There are several departure times and the earlier you go the more estates you’ll visit. We were feeling a bit delicate, with Hubbie still recovering from an impressive tropical fever picked up in Mauritius, and me trying to shake off a bout of flu, so decided on the second departure of the day at a leisurely 11.15 am.

The Franschhoek Wine Tram Blue Route Wine Estates

Rickety Bridge

Our first stop on the Franschhoek Wine Tram blue route was Rickety Bridge, and I do declare they had the best wine of the entire trip! Sitting outside on the sunny terrace we were each presented with an option tick sheet. As usual hubbie chose the ones which retailed at the most expensive prices, whilst I actually read the descriptions. The sommelier struck just the right balance between professional knowledge and friendly banter, and politely turned a blind eye and when she noticed the spittoon remained empty after we’d finished. A great start to the day.

Nestled down in the valley the view wasn’t sweeping like at some other estates, being partially obscured by trees, but the whole place felt very relaxed and not overly pretentious so we really enjoyed our stop here, despite not really having a clue about what we were doing.

Wine Tasting: R20 for 5 wines

Grand Provence

I know, the clue is in the name, but to be honest we found this all a bit too ‘grand’. The Grand Provence ambience was a little too polished, it didn’t feel as friendly as Rickety Bridge and guests with more sparkly bling than us seemed to receive more attention. Note to self, next time don’t leave the diamonds at home! To be fair, moments later a cavalcade of expensive and shiny vintage cars came purring rather gloriously down the imposing drive, and at least 50 occupants descended on the terrace restaurant for a pre-arranged luncheon, so we certainly weren’t the only guests they needed to look after.

We were disappointed by the wine choice for the tasting, each set option involving both white and red, rather than being able to just choose our own. Neither of us drink white so rather than shelling out for wine we didn’t want (it was more expensive than Rickety Bridge) we took a stroll around the immaculately manicured gardens, stumbling on several bizarre scenes that I suppose are called art.

I think that each estate has it’s own personality and thus they can’t all appeal to everyone. I think we simply didn’t feel posh enough for this one, but I’m sure other people have Grand Provence down as their favourite!

Wine Tasting: R40 for 4 wines

Mont Rochelle

This was definitely our favourite stop on the Franschhoek Wine Tram, not least because reality matched expectation. The situation of Mont Rochelle is perfect, with several dining terraces making the most of far reaching valley views. It of course helped that the sun was shining.

I anticipated the experience might not yet be as slick as we have enjoyed during stays at other Virgin properties – Kasbah Tamadot and Ulusaba – since Mont Rochelle had literally re-opened just weeks before. Yet I was pleasantly surprised to find they were already running a tight ship. One thing we love about Virgin is their luxury without pretension, and this was evident here at Mont Rochelle too.

I could have spent all afternoon lazing away on the terrace, sipping the most excellent wine and tucking into the perfect meat and cheese platter accompaniment, and it was the only place (probably because we had lunch) that I felt an hour not quite long enough.

Wine Tasting: R20 for 3 wines

La Couronne

As I mentioned earlier, each estate is different and consequently we can’t expect to fall in love with all of them. However we weren’t impressed with La Couronne in the slightest, and not just because it wasn’t our style. Sure, it was all a bit too modern for our tastes, with transparent plastic chairs and strange art installations, yet I could have looked past this had the experience been up to much.

It wasn’t.

There were only 3 other guests visiting at the same time, yet it took the single member of staff some time to appear and show us to a table. Then before we’d even made our wine choices, let alone tasted them, a mail order form was being thrust in our faces. Making sales was clearly more important than visitor experience.

When our wine eventually arrived there was no explanation whatsoever, and we weren’t even told which one we were tasting each time. The poor service certainly left a sour taste in our mouths, and unfortunately so did the wine. Perhaps we weren’t in the right frame of mind to enjoy it by that stage, but we ended up pouring away each of the 3 wines we’d been given (the only time that day we’d used the spittoon). Not that anyone noticed. The sommelier had actually put on her jacket and left the building, and presumably there were still staff around but certainly nowhere we could see.

Certainly one of the longest hours of our lives and a disappointing end to an otherwise enjoyable Franschhoek Wine Tram Tour.

Wine Tasting: included in the tram ticket

Franschhoek Wine Tram Tickets

Price: R200 per adult, R85 per child under 18

It is worth noting that tastings at some estates are included in the Franschhoek Wine Tram ticket price:

Blue Line Inclusions:

Complimentary wine tasting at La Couronne, Holden Manz, and La Bourgogne.
10% discount on wine purchases at La Bri.
Half of wine tasting fee credited against any wine, cheese platter or meal purchase at Rickety Bridge.
5% discount on wine sales at Grand Provence.

Red Line Inclusions:

Complimentary Wine Tasting at Maison and Dieu Donne.
A ‘welcome taste’ at Eikehof.
Half of wine tasting fee credited against any wine, cheese platter or meal purchase at Rickety Bridge.
5% discount on wine sales at Grand Provence.

The Franschhoek Wine Tram Timetable

Now we did find this rather confusing, and were a bit disappointed to learn the hard way that even on the earliest departure there would not have been time to visit every estate on the Franschhoek Wine Tram route. There are 7 estates on each tour, and although the timetable says you make 6 stops, the transfer back to Franschhoek Village to change between tram and bus is included in this, so really you can only visit a maximum of 5 estates.

Leaving on the second departure of the day we only had time for 4, even though it said 5 on the timetable. Had this been made clear we would certainly have skipped La Couronne and instead opted for Holden Manz.

So make sure you plan your day before you go. As an example, this is what you get on the Blue Line Tram First route:

First departure – 5 estates

Second departure – 4 estates

Third departure – 3 estates

The trams/buses aren’t as regular as we’d expected. Perhaps naively we thought we’d be able to wait at the stop after our tasting and just jump on the next one that came along. In fact we were given an allotted time to return to the stop, which meant we spent the whole day with the same people (not a problem, but it felt less of a ‘hop-on hop-off’ experience than an actual ‘tour’).

We also found an hour at each stop was far too long unless we were stopping for lunch. After tasting and wandering the grounds there was often a lot of finger twiddling before getting picked up again at the allotted time.

The Franschhoek Wine Tram verdict?

Despite the itinerary not ending up quite as we expected, and our disappointing experience at La Couronne, the Franschhoek Wine Tram was still a fun and relaxing way to spend the day and with a better plan of attack for next time I’d definitely do it again! Just take the first departure of the day if you want to make the most of it!

Enjoyed this post? Why not pin it for later…