La Chataigne

La Chataigne Winery

Chestnuts have featured large in the Parkfelt family's lives.The former family home in Sweden was called Chestnut Gardens and obviously boasted numerous chestnut trees. And running through the 15ha Franschhoek property that Richard Parkfelt's parents bought in 1971 is a river - the Kastaiing, which is Afrikaans for … chestnut! Not one to ignore the omens, the property took on a chestnut name - in this case, La Chataigne.

"It's not just because the family's quite nutty," quips Parkfelt. "My folks also planted a chestnut tree when they arrived in the '70s, but after 30 years it's only now reaching about seven foot in height."

Two wines in their range of four are called "chestnut", albeit in different languages. The Chenin Blanc-driven white blend is Kastanje (Swedish) while the red blend is Marron (French). The other two wines are a rosé and a Sauvignon Blanc (2½ Stars in this month's What's New tasting).

Most of the fruit from the farm is sold off to Franschhoek Vineyards, Stony Brook or Allée Bleue.

"We make very little of our own wine - just a 1 000 cases in total."

Having said that, Parkfelt admits with pride that La Chataigne sells out every year. "We've become a victim of our own success - even though we do little marketing. Our wines are sold to friends, locals and restaurants - mainly through word of mouth."

He's unnecessarily modest because in the next breath he reveals that 20 - 30% of production is sold in Sweden and Belgium.

"People like our wines because they are approachable, fun and uncomplicated."

Parkfelt attributes this not only to the age of the vines on La Chataigne - the Chenin Blanc and Semillon being in the region of 40 years or older - but also to the skill of consultant winemaker Gerda Willers and his own taste preferences.

"I don't pretend to be a winemaker but my desire is to bottle a wine that I'm happy to drink. So it has to be fruity and fun - great for lunch and for a game of boulle! I don't want it to be taken too seriously because I never am!"

His pricing policy is also refreshingly honest. "Our whites sell for R27 off the farm and the red for R35."

At present La Chataigne is open by appointment only, but a tasting room is ready and just awaiting the paperwork with official approval.

"Our ideal is to be open to the public for tastings. We want people to come along and taste the wine right where the grapes were grown, to chat to us, buy some well-priced wine and maybe even stay for a game of boulle on our new pitch!"

By Fiona McDonald