Located in the picturesque Franschhoek Valley of South Africa's Western Cape, Chamonix Wine Estate is a beacon of winemaking excellence amidst breathtaking mountain landscapes. Chamonix is located above the picturesque Franschhoek Valley in the heart of the Cape Winelands. The South African winery offers its visitors untouched nature, an exquisite site as well as a stronghold of culinary delights.
Vineyards in Franschhoek Valley
Once a part of the historic La Cotte Farm, granted to the Huguenots in 1688, Chamonix today comprises 300 hectares. The estate benefits from the cool breezes during the hot summer months and a stony soil containing clay which gives the wine its unique character and style.
A Blend of Tradition and Modernity
At Chamonix Wine Estate, traditional winemaking practices are harmoniously blended with modern techniques to ensure the production of wines of exceptional depth and complexity. The team around winemaker Niel Bruwer believes that a wine develops its true character best when nature is the dominating ‘winemaker’: grand wines are created on the vineslope!
The Terroir Advantage
Chamonix wines vary from other South African wines due to the advantage of having an altitude variation (250m to 450m). The estate's vineyards benefit from a combination of altitude, cool breezes, and diverse soils, creating an ideal environment for cultivating a variety of grape varietals.
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Discovering the essence of the Franschhoek Valley at Rickety Bridge
The Wines of Chamonix
Chamonix is known for internationally acclaimed wines, which include:
- A Methode Cap Classique Sparkling Wine
- Sauvignon Blanc (a Fume as well as an unwooded)
- Chardonnay (a cellar master barrel selection)
- Pinotage
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Bordeaux Blend (Troika)
Some additional notes on Chamonix wines include:
- Strikingly pure aromatic grapefruit and herb nose.
- Lovely fruit quality. 13% alcohol.
- Cherry and herbs, finishing mineral.
- Dryland farmed at 550-600 metres; low yielding vines.
- Sweet, pure berry fruits with a fresh, tangy edge.
The most impressive of the wineries that use only their own grapes is Chamonix. Not coincidentally, the Chamonix vineyards are planted high up the side slopes of the valley, while a majority of Franschhoek vines grow on the broad valley floor. Through serious involvement in the management of the vineyards (which are increasingly organic), young Gottfried Mocke has managed to raise the standards of all the Chamonix wines in the six years he has been responsible for winemaking here.
More Than Just Wine
Chamonix is also well known for the water it produces. Sourced from underground springs in the Franschhoek Mountains, Eau De Chamonix is one of the purest and healthiest waters available in South Africa.
In the Chamonix Distillery classic German style fruit schnapps and aperitifs are produced. The Chamonix distillery is run according to German distillery standards with genuine imported German copper kettles. Also produced is Grappa, and Chamonix Grappa follows the 400-year tradition of Grappa distilling countries like Italy, France and Germany. This increasingly popular spirit is made from distilling masses of grape skins and stalks.
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Visiting Chamonix Wine Estate
Visitors to Chamonix can indulge in a range of experiences that showcase the estate's natural beauty and dedication to hospitality. Taste and purchase any Chamonix product daily from 9:30 am until 16:30 pm in the old Blacksmith’s Cottage.
Guided tours offer insights into the winemaking process, from vineyard to cellar, while tastings provide an opportunity to savor Chamonix's acclaimed wines. Chamonix Wine Estate also offers a delightful dining experience at its acclaimed restaurant, where seasonal dishes are crafted to complement the estate's wines. Culinary Delight and Wine Cellar Tours at ChamonixVisitors can treat themselves in the Arkeste restaurant with culinary delights - a glass of Chamonix wine completes the experience whilst they overlook the picturesque surroundings.
Arkeste Restaurant at Chamonix
The Broader Context of Cape Winelands
Nowhere else in the wine world at present, surely, is there more vital and fruitful a dialectic of old and new as in the Cape. It is partly a matter of South African political and viticultural history, with the past few decades seeing a radical reinvigoration, but not a repudiation, of some 350 years of winemaking.
Such wine-focused visitors to the Cape will note two significant advantages after the probably long flight to Cape Town. The first is that the winelands, with all their diversity, fan out contiguously from the city - inland and along the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts - and are all generally easily accessible from there and from each other. A second great advantage is the winelands’ spectacular beauty.
Read also: Discover Lanzerac
If it is somewhat arbitrary to focus here on three of the smaller wine-growing valleys enfolded by the mountains of the Western Cape, so be it. The days are long gone since Constantia was a vast single estate, the property of Simon van der Stel, governor of the Dutch settlement tentatively reaching across southernmost Africa in the latter 17th century.
Constantia: A Valley of Rebirth
Whether Constantia is indeed a valley might well be the matter of debate for geographers. Most of the vineyards lie on the lower slopes and at the feet of the chain of mountains curving from behind Table Mountain (if that mountain’s “front” is to the classic ocean view) to the sea on the other side of the peninsula.
The relative coolness of Constantia means that, on the whole, white grapes do best here - notably Sauvignon, which occupies about a third of the vineyard, Chardonnay some way behind in second place, and Semillon and a little Riesling much further down the planting list, if not the quality rankings.
Hemel-en-Aarde Valley
The Hemel-en-Aarde Valley is initially less spectacular scenically than Constantia or Franschhoek; at least until one is deep into the valley and the tarred road has dwindled to gravel, these seem mere rough high hills compared with that mountain grandeur. It was providential that the colonizing settlers soon found lands suitable for viticulture within a reasonable radius of Table Bay. This coastal valley took longer to reach - it’s now some two hours by car, mostly through lovely scenery.
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