Franschhoek reveled in the success of another wonderful festival in September. They came, they saw and some conked out, but a good time was had by all at Franschhoek Uncorked.
It is not clear how many of the happy visitors were seriously intent on sampling newly released wines and comparing them to tasting notes filed in their memories, but 2704 tickets were sold and the venues were busy all weekend.
First time participant, Maison, was a hit with its laid-back atmosphere and converted scores of wine drinkers to Chenin Blanc. Boekenhoutskloof was an all-weekend party with great food, original comics and a constant flow of Chocolate Block. (They opened 600 bottles for the festival.) Redefined La Motte took everyone’s breath away with the beautiful interior design and excellent service and Lynx could hardly keep up with the demand for Viognier. Parking became impossible at La Petite Ferme, as no-one wanted to leave and down the road at Haute Cabrière the love of Cap Classique and Pinot Noir was verging on the obsessive. Topiary did some serious Shiraz sales and declared the pairing of their wines with the Freedom Hill platter just the ticket. At Vrede en Lust the visitors were enchanted by the French Laundry theme and Les Girls in their fetching outfits. Franschhoek Cellar successfully seduced their visitors with their chocolate tastings and cheese platters.
Adding to the excitement of festival goers, was the accompanying celebrity spotting. Seeing Graeme Smith and Jeannie D was sooo cool!
Statistics released on surveys the FWVTA conducted at the festival, contained some interesting facts: Almost half of the respondents were Cape Town residents, 12% were local; 73% came to the festival for the first time and most of them found out about it by word-of-mouth; those who stayed over, stayed for an average of 2 nights; most also went to restaurants and 94% said they would come again next year.
[Article originally published in the October edition of the Franschhoek Tatler]
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