Franschhoek News and Reviews. Jump & Jive at Friday Nite Live, La Petite Ferme Restaurant, Franschhoek

A bit about La Bri

Winemaker and General Manager Irene Waller started at La Bri in October 2010 after 6 years with Graham Beck Bubbles in Robertson. They are planning to capitalize on her well honed skills to start producing Cap Classique at La Bri this year as well as carry on in the traditions of their previous Winemakers, Jocelyn Wilson and Marius Lategan.

Robin Hamilton bought the Farm in 1997. At that time, their Wines were being made from La Bri grapes at The Franschhoek Wine Co-Operative. La Bri, given to the De Villiers Family in 1694, is one of the original 9 Farms given to the Huguenots. De Villiers went on to build Boschendal’s Manor House.

Mr. Hamilton appointed Winemaker Jocelyn Wilson in 2006, and realized the way forward was to build their own cellar, as at that stage all that existed was the Main house and some outbuildings. They still keep the old tasting room, filled with cobwebs and old machinery and are introducing it as part of a cycle tour of the farm which is already in existence. They are also creating a couple of picnic spots by the river and plan to offer picnic baskets to be enjoyed down by the Riverside. And there's a herb garden with strawberries and granadillas and other delights for the Visitors to enjoy and pick from.

Bicycles are available on the Farm for anyone who wants to take a picnic basket and ride down to the River. Don’t drink and drive, drink and ride at La Bri!

Bicycles are available on the Farm for anyone who wants to take a picnic basket and ride down to the River. Don’t drink and drive, drink and ride at La Bri!

Walking from the Spacious Barn-Loft style Tasting Room through huge glass doors into the Barrel Cellar, you suddenly find yourself on stainless steel catwalks over barrel upon barrel of red wine. The cool temperature controlled room is refreshing, the air permeated by that distinct aroma of oaked wine. Their Flagship Bordeaux Blend, Affinity, spends 2 years in Barrel, imported French Oak.

Through huge glass doors again, we come to an office area, though not your typical office space at all, large spaces with incredible views over the vineyards to the Mountains beyond.

Turning sharp left we walk through monolithic glass doors again into the Wine Making room. Again we are on stainless steel catwalks , level with the top of the wine Tanks, of which there are several, with their total capacity being 120 tons, currently doing 80. Irene explained a bit about the process of Red wine making and how the wine needs to ferment with the skins to give it its’ colour.

Coming soon, a self guided wine tour so that Visitors to the farm can do a tour anytime. Plaques posted at strategic points will describe the area, the processes and the wines.

A bit about The Wines

Predominantly red wine grapes are planted at La Bri, namely Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc , Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Viognier and Chardonnay make up the white wine contingent..
Viognier, Irene says is an exquisite white grape, floral, peach, can be used as a co-ferment , which La Bri does with Shiraz. Viognier tends to be high in alcohol, and needs to be handled with care. It does well with older barrels otherwise becomes too heavily oaked, in which case you might as well use a Chardonnay, quips Irene.
We strolled out to the Balcony overlooking the most remarkable view and tasted their Chardonnay. Peaches, mm, lightly oaked, rich, full, fruit, good compliment to seafood. A very quaffable wine to savour and enjoy. Elegant, could definitely drink another glass or two….
"All our wines are all elegant," say’s Irene, "nothing brash or rushed about them, La Bri wines spend a lot of time in the tanks before and during fermentation".
You can arrive at La Bri at any time for a wine tasting. Tours currently are by appointment, but this will change when the self guided tours are up and running, which will be soon, I understand.

That was Then, this is Now

We took a walk from the New to the Old, namely to the original wine tasting room and winemaking cellar. This was a fun foray into the annals of La Bri History, ducking through a low doorway into a dark cobweb adorned little room,( “we’re keeping the Cobwebs,” says Irene) rows of old wines and bits of ancient machinery, the old cement/brick wine vats converted into storage areas, boxes of wines from an era gone by, a significant number of framed Award certificates, and an intriguing collection of bottles boasting such names as Blanc de la Bri and Sauvage La Bri, as well as a collection of Old La Bri wines from France, lining the walls.

La Bri, a small Wine Estate, is Old worlde charm meets state of the Art. This is Old Franschhoek at its best, original low white walls, green lawns, Giant Blue Hydrangeas under Huge Old Oaks, unsullied views across the vineyards to The Franschhoek Mountains. Were it not for the New wine cellar, which by the way is high-tec but completely unostentatious, you could easily imagine you were in another era. Despite the Farms scant 1.2 kms from Franschhoek Village, La Bri offers all you’d hope for and more in a quiet retreat from the madding crowd, and is unlikely to ever be anything but that.

Despite my boast of 22 years in Franschhoek, I would definitely relish a wine tasting, a cycle on the Farm, and a picnic by the River! That’s a really agreeable package by any standard, I think.