Nothing petite about La Petite Ferme's offering in Franschhoek

Winemaker Wikus Pretorius joined La Petite Ferme 3 years ago, having come from Haskell Vineyards in Stellenbosch. He has a tough job ensuring that the visitors to the restaurant have enough choice and volume to suit their palates.
La Petite Ferme has blossomed into one of the top boutique hotels in the winelands and judging by the very full restaurant on an arbitrary Tuesday last week - people love the food and venue too.  What's not to love really, as it has one of the most stunning views in the winelands - looking west onto the Franschhoek Valley.

Most of the grapes are sourced from the Franschhoek area with some (of their Chardonnay) from as far as Elim which gives the wine great acidity. Wikus took a few of us through some of his wines, predominantly the reds. There is a brand new small volume Red blend called Variation, as yet unlabelled, which tickled all of our palates. It is a Rhone Blend of Shiraz/Grenache/Mourvedre/Viognier blend - one of my favourites.  The other red blend is their Verdict - an usual Cape Blend of Cab, Cab franc, Pinotage and Merlot -a serious wine with a serious name - also one of our favourites.  

There were a few young vintages among those tasted and this is party of Wikus' challenge, as they serve only their wine in the restaurant, and have little enough stock, but want to ensure that the reds have enough time to settle and age well.  When we enjoyed the Cab with our lamb - it was a real winning combination.

We enjoyed the wines with our splendid meal prepared by Kyle and his sous-chef Maveer.... who gave us a delicious taste through some of their best. We we were lucky enough to enjoy their traditional signature lamb dish, which has been a firm favourite at Le Petite Ferme for decades.