Ludwig told me that the main part of his business is to supply restaurants with their wine requirements, receiving stock from the wine estates, which is stored, and delivered to the restaurants on demand.\u00a0 This service is of benefit to the restaurants and the wine estates, as each party works with only one monthly invoice.\u00a0 Wine sales from the rather dark and characterful shop on the main road are incidental, and would not have carried the business alone, Ludwig said, almost feeling sorry for the new wine shops. Ludwig said that he represents 48 of the 50 Franschhoek wine estates.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Scarce supplies of Boekenhoutskloof Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon may be easier to\u00a0buy at La Cotte Inn\u00a0Wine Sales than\u00a0from the wine farm itself.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The shop sells mainly Franschhoek wines too, but also imported wines such as Mosel Riesling, and wines from France and Spain.\u00a0 The largest number of imported wines in Franschhoek are sold by La Cotte Inn Wine Sales.\u00a0 In addition to wines, they sell a wonderful selection of up to 100 imported French cheeses,\u00a0Cuban cigars, Riedel stemware, and the popular Le Nez du Vin wine aroma testing kit.<\/p>\n Ludwig said that he sells about\u00a030 non-Franschhoek wines, in addition to the 48 Franschhoek wine estates that he represents.\u00a0 He helps wine farms with winelist compilation, and also with pricing, if required.\u00a0 He urges restaurants to keep wine prices reasonable, and told me that he recently persuaded Le Quartier Fran\u00e7ais to reduce its wine prices.\u00a0 In the shop, Porcupine Ridge is the best seller, priced at R33 for Sauvignon Blanc and at R47 for their reds.\u00a0 Graham Beck and La Motte wines are in second and third place on sales, being strong and well-known Franschhoek brand names.<\/p>\n Being a wholesaler, La Cotte Inn Wine Sales offers the best prices of all four Franschhoek wine shops, especially for Franschhoek wines.\u00a0 Ludwig was critical of Pick ‘n Pay nationally, saying that they offer customers one-shop convenience, but that they are ‘killing the small guys’, having recently bought five Aroma stores and turning them into Pick ‘n Pay Liquor outlets.<\/p>\n La Cotte Inn Wine Sales, <\/strong>31 Main Road, Franschhoek.\u00a0 Tel (021) 876-3775 \u00a0www.lacotte.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n House of Wines<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Sigi is knowledgeable about wines, and their pairing with foods, having completed a Diploma from the Cape Wine Academy, having worked as a Sommelier at Grande Roche, having completed a hotel qualification in Germany, having worked at the Radisson Hotel in Granger Bay, and having been the Food and Beverage Manager of La Couronne Hotel before it was renamed Mont Rochelle.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sigi stocks wines from 170 wine estates, which are ‘perfectly matured’ according to his business card, and he is looking to increase this number.\u00a0 He told me immediately that he stocks mainly non-Franschhoek wines, as his Franschhoek customers, many loyal from his previous wine shop, are bored with the Franschhoek wines, and want to try something new.\u00a0 He also stocks a number of wine-related items in the shop, including an interesting game called Wine-opoly, bottle stoppers, wine books, DVD’s, and more.\u00a0 Sigi described his shop as proudly-South African, not selling imported wines.\u00a0 The wines he stocks are those that his clients like to buy, and those that he himself likes.\u00a0 He does specialised wine tastings for his customers.\u00a0 His top three sellers are Springfield Sauvignon Blanc, in top position by far (R84,85), followed by Haute Cabriere Pinot Noir Chardonnay (R72,95), and Delaire Shiraz (R84,85). Sigi is looking to add an olive oil and vinegar section, and both products will be available on tap, which can be bottled in one’s own containers, or in a selection of containers that\u00a0they will sell.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n House of Wines,<\/strong>\u00a028 Huguenot Road, Franschhoek.\u00a0 Tel (021) 876-4120.\u00a0 www.how.co.za<\/a>\u00a0 Tuesday – Sunday 10h00 – 18h00.<\/p>\n WINES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n What makes this wine shop different to the others is that the stock of wine is kept on consignment, meaning that the wine estates are paid when their wine sells.\u00a0 Elsa told me that she bought the Platter’s database, and wrote to the wine farms in it, inviting them to have their wines sold on consignment.\u00a0 She received a good response,\u00a0and 83 wine\u00a0estates’ brands are sold in the shop.\u00a0 Interestingly, only six Franschhoek wine estates (Dieu Donn\u00e9, Grande Provence, La Verdure, Chanteclair, La Manoir de Brendel, and Topiary) supply the shop, the Franschhoek Vignerons\u00a0officially\u00a0not supporting wine sales on consignment, which smacks of Franschhoek politics.\u00a0\u00a0 Each wine estate that has signed up with WINES at no charge has good shelf positioning, and is featured on touchscreen TV monitors on the shelves, with tasting notes provided about each wine.\u00a0 The wine estates are also invited to conduct tastings outside the shop, which attracts attention to the shop, and yesterday I saw a number of persons coming to taste the wines of Arumdale from Elgin, the first time I had heard\u00a0of the brand. The top selling wine by far is the mouthful of a brand Hermanuspietersfontein, with Diners Club Winemaker of the Year Bartho Eksteen, and it is his Kleinboet (R104) and No 7 (R91) that sell particularly well, followed by wines from Under Oaks in Paarl (R54 for Sauvignon Blanc\u00a0and R82 for Shiraz), and Muratie Shiraz (R123).\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to the wines sold, they sell wine cooling bags, the book ‘South African Wines’, crystal glassware, and decanters.\u00a0Delivery locally is free, and international shipping of wines can be done via Elsa’s Postnet service.\u00a0 Special protective packaging for the shipping of wine bottles is sold by WINES.\u00a0\u00a0 One may buy a bottle from WINES, and then drink it at Caf\u00e9 Benedict, without paying for corkage.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/la-cotte-wine-sales-franschhoek-ludwig-m-whale-cottage-portfolio1.jpg\" "\\"la-cotte-wine-sales-franschhoek-ludwig-m-whale-cottage-portfolio1\\"")
<\/a>Ludwig Maske has owned this wine shop at the entrance to Franschhoek for about fifteen years, the building previously housing a grocery store\/general dealer, as well as\u00a0the restaurant Lanternhof, which belonged to\u00a0his father.\u00a0 Ludwig started his career by running the liquor sales section of the old La Cotte Inn, where the Protea Hotel is\u00a0located now, in his father’s hotel.\u00a0 Maske’s grandfather owned the Swiss Farm Excelsior (now the Le Franschhoek Hotel), which was a well-known\u00a0for a Sunday afternoon treat of tea\/coffee and scones.\u00a0 The Maskes have earned their stripes in Franschhoek, and La Cotte Inn Wine Sales is synonymous with Franschhoek wines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>It was interesting to talk to Sigi Juling, who described himself as a Namibian and not a German, but he and his fiance\u00e9 Bettina are both German-speaking.\u00a0\u00a0 I was not aware that Sigi had owned Bijoux Square, also on the main road, and here Sigi had owned a House of Wines shop\u00a0from 2002 to 2007.\u00a0 He sold the building, and worked in Namibia and went to Europe, returning to open his wine shop in a new location on the main road,\u00a0opposite the Post Office.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>The newest and most modern Franschhoek wine shop is in the new Franschhoek Centre, which also houses the new Pick ‘n Pay and Clicks, and is next door to Caf\u00e9\u00a0Benedict.\u00a0 It is co-owned by Elsa Post, an enterprising Franschhoeker, who also owns the Franschhoek Postnet franchise, and Robert Maingard, the owner of the centre, and of\u00a0 a number of Franschhoek businesses, including Dieu Donn\u00e9, Caf\u00e9 Benedict<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, the Le Franschhoek\u00a0Hotel, and the newly opened Le Coq.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n