Art, markets and monuments, food and wine, chocolate and coffee, meandering country lanes or cycling through vineyard trails: Franschhoek bends to one’s desire.
Its annual literary festival may be the country’s most prestigious, drawing thousands keen to absorb authors’ nattering about their works. Now, the Montreux Jazz Festival is lined up as well, for March next year. Will the town be poorer for a surfeit of commercialism? The only road into Franschhoek from Cape Town, the R45, is being upgraded to cope with traffic flow – well and good, and logical. But a Skytram cable car from the Franschhoek Pass to the centre of town? Common sense seems to have prevailed about that, as the nearly half-billion rand idea was nixed by resident associations and the local chamber of commerce, and the agenda item apparently deferred by the mayoral committee. If a sign is needed, however, take it as an excuse to appreciate Franschhoek’s charms before overdevelopment kicks in.
Camouflaged among the expanse of the Wemmershoek forest and fynbos, La Cotte is like a hidey-hole for those in the know. It reveals itself via a residential side-street, then up the mountainside along a narrow, tree-lined lane, passing the restored wheel of an old mill looming large as a landmark of place and heritage, to the Manor House reception area.
La Cotte calls itself a farm, which it is, in a way. Vineyards proliferate; there are fig and olive trees, and some free-wandering chickens. But the accommodations, gardens, restaurant and bar, and wedding venue position it as an upmarket getaway, confirmed by foreign languages floating from all corners, impeccable service, and little touches of luxury.
Stellenbosch may have appropriated Franschhoek’s mantle as South Africa’s fine dining capital, but La Cotte boasts the Mill House, winner of the 2025 Luxe Award for the country’s best coffee shop. It’s tiny, and we’re advised to either come very early for breakfast or to reserve one of the handful of tables, or risk missing out on the creations of reigning pâtissier of the year, Keisha Louw. Today, however, we’re in luck. The best cheesecake in the world is made according to Basque region recipes: crustless, creamy, caramelised on top. There’s one piece left. And one, too, of her new sponge, frangipane and grapefruit invention, like an opera cake with fewer layers and more complex flavours.
Calves strain as we ascend the upper reaches of the property, where it feels as though the Franschhoek sign etched into the eponymous mountain pass is in touching distance. A grand villa is situated here, perfect for a party of 16 desiring guaranteed privacy, exclusivity, and exquisite views over the entire valley. This part of La Cotte is isolated, a Walden Pond paradise to listen to the wind or watch an African fish eagle swooping over the farm’s picturesque lake.
La Cotte’s lower levels are more convivial. The fulcrum of accommodation options is the small hotel, with magical, meandering gardens leading the way to self-catering cottages. The summer season dials up the valley’s heat, but each Orchard cottage has its own pool, and the forest lodges share one that stretches and sparkles across a lawn large enough for croquet, if not cricket.
Strolling through the vineyards, viognier and cabernet sauvignon seem to predominate. The farm does make wine, but bottlings are unlabelled, deemed not yet of sufficient quality for release under the La Cotte brand. Later, however, at the small hotel bar, I ask for an impromptu tasting of the farm’s three wines. To my palate, the white blend is excellent. Perhaps it’s the place – the eclectic nook has the aura of an establishment at which Ernest Hemingway might have enjoyed more than a few martinis.
Rickety Bridge has a different setting and atmosphere. The road to the farm is long and straight, traversing vineyards interspersed with dusty fields. Through an outbreak of thicket and a copse of trees, and over a babbling brook, the name becomes evident, although the bridge hasn’t been rickety for a long while. There’s a clear destination, now: nestled in the valley itself, this is first and foremost a wine farm.
A favourite stop on Franschhoek’s famous wine-tram route, groups disembark regularly, and the tasting centre has recently been redesigned and refurbished to offer an elevated experience, the first completed step in the vision of new owners Simon and Melissa Crosbie.
It’s a smart call to position the estate’s Homestead hotel in a quieter corner, 500m or so away from the tasting venue. The original building dates back to the 1800s; designated a heritage site, renovation is of necessity diligent and gradual. The fusion of old and new comes with quirks — the rhythm of a creaky floorboard, staircases and support beams in strange places, the tobacco-like smell of old-fashioned thatch juxtaposing with Nespresso-pod aromas. The commingling of contemporary and traditional positions Rickety Bridge as a breakaway rural idyll: wine and wide-open space, peace and poolside lounging.
Plans to browse Franschhoek’s galleries or visit one of the new wine bars evaporate. The blue sky tells me I have nothing to do, and all day to do it.
