Winery Overview
In what turned out to be astonishingly fortunate chance circumstances for all concerned, forty four French Huguenots fled religious persecution in their own country over three hundred years ago and were granted land in the lush and verdant Franschhoek Valley, known as ‘the French corner’. They brought with them an invaluable knowledge of grape cultivation and an incomparable flair for wine production. By chance they were able to lay the foundations that we have successfully established this area as one of South Africa’s most prestigious wine and food destinations.
Franschhoek Cellar was originally founded in 1945 by a community of the valley’s grape farmers with the objective of vinifying their grapes on a co-operative basis. It has long since shed this old ‘co-op’ image and is now operating as a private winery within the premium wine stable of DGB (Pty) Ltd.
Franschhoek Cellar shows its loyalty and support by naming the wines under The Village Walk range after some of these historic locations and using mostly locally sourced grapes.