YES THERE’S MORE to the quality and character of a wine than the winemaker; naturally the location and condition of the vines, the soil, the climate, the weather and everything else associated with the ‘terroir’ play important roles. However, what a difference the cellarmaster and his team can make! Of course there were exceptions, but before Gottfried Mocke took charge of the cellar at Chamonix the rave reviews for Chris Hellinger’s place on the slopes of the Franschhoek valley generally had to do with the restaurant, the guest cottages and lodges or the schnapps and grappa. Whereas under the current leadership, it’s hard to remember when the winemaking team last put a foot wrong and no wonder that Chamonix got the nod as Winery of the Year in the 2013 edition of Platter’s South African Wine Guide.

For anybody seeking premium quality and interest value, suffice to say that this is one of the labels to look for when it comes to some of the country’s very best reds and whites from a range of different grape varieties. And all the more ‘smileworthy’ is that Chamonix wines are fairly readily available – certainly more so than the small-volume Cabernet and Shiraz under the Boekenhoutskloof label that are seldom available to the public ex-cellar and even then only on condition that you purchase a mixed case including various other wines. Puh leeez!