Gerard Holden

Vignerons de Franschhoek is the producer association of South Africa’s historic “French Corner,” founded in 1984 as part of the Franschhoek Wine Route and is credited with helping revive grape growing after many farmers started to move more towards growing orchard fruits. The Valley’s wine heritage dates back to the French Huguenot refugees who arrived in the Cape in the late 1680s, bringing their vine-growing expertise with them.

Today the grouping represents the estates behind Franschhoek’s reputation as one of the Cape’s leading wine and food tourist destinations. As I discovered earlier this year, its members work with remarkably varied soils, slopes and microclimates, producing a diverse range of styles that reflect the Valley’s terroir diversity while actively promoting its quality both locally and internationally. For many consumers, the premium wines of the Franschhoek Valley ward remain a bit of an unknown entity. Follow my new 15 part series covering some of the most exciting boutique wineries in the Valley.

Barrel tasting with longtime Holden Manz winemaker, Frenchman Thierry Haberer.

In part 3 of my Vignerons de Franschhoek series, I revisit the wines of the Holden Manz Estate, a winery that brings a certain ‘Bordeaux-minded’ sensibility to the Franschhoek Valley, where the Hottentots-Holland and Franschhoek mountains shape a cool, sheltered mesoclimate. The estate takes its name from founders Gerard Holden and Migo Manz. Their focus has always championed site-driven reds and refined whites that reward a gastronomic attention at the table rather than simply flattering at first sip.

Joining the Holden Manz new release press tasting at the estate with Thierry (left) and Gerard Holden (right).

The flagship Big G, a Bordeaux-style blend, reflects the valley’s capacity for structured, age-worthy reds. Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve wines sit at the heart of the range, joined by a poised Syrah. Among the whites, Chardonnay, Semillon and Chenin Blanc speak to the Cape’s long-standing strengths in the Franschhoek Valley, balancing ripeness with freshness and mineral tension. For the seasoned drinker, the Holden Manz appeal lies in precision combined with opulence, oak used in service of fruit, tannins shaped for beneficial cellaring, and a clear sense of place within one of South Africa’s most historic wine regions.

Holden Manz Hiro Rose 2025, WO Western Cape, 13.5% Abv.

A classical blend of Grenache (Stellenbosch) and Cinsault (Polkadraai Hills), the Grenache was directly whole bunch pressed and fermented, 25% in 500 litre oak barrels and likewise, a portion of Cinsault fermented in barrel and stainless steel. Intense, floral perfumed aromatics with pithy red berry fruits, a delicate reductive hint, wild strawberry and dry, dusty mineral notes. Bright, crisp and deliciously tangy, this has impressive depth and fruit concentration, harmony and texture with a dry, fine boned finish. No wonder it sold out so quickly! (Tasted from Magnum. Retails at R270pb)

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Holden Manz Chenin Blanc 2024, WO Coastal Region, 13.5% Abv.

Chenin Blanc sourced 20% from Wellington and rest from Simonsberg-Paarl, both being dry grown old vine bush vines, the aromatics scream minerality and decomposed granitic dusty spice, delicate flinty reductive notes, dried straw, herbs and peach skins. The palate is glycerol and leesy with a fine tangy texture, an elegant harmonious balance and a very well-integrated, seamless tangy acidity. Impressive concentration and character with classic linear, crystalline focus.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Holden Manz Proprietor’s White Blend 2023, WO Western Cape, 13% Abv.

A blend of 45% Semillon, 23% Chenin Blanc, 17% Chardonnay and15% Viognier… with the Semillon and Viognier from the Franschhoek Valley. The aromatics are lead by the lime peel, lemon grass and pithy white citrus styling from the Semillon with a delicately reductive, flinty Granitic style. An impressively textural wine with well-integrated acids, a seamless, saline, fleshy texture and quite a mineral, serious expression.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Holden Manz Avant-Garde Collection Chardonnay 2023, WO Western Cape, 13% Abv.

100% barrel fermented with natural yeasts, with 12% in new oak, 30% second and the balance 3-4 passage barrels. Whole bunched pressed and settled with no sulphur additions. A confident, savoury, white citrus lead aromatics, with dried herbs, struck flint and Granitic complexity. The palate shows a fine texture with a finely integrated line of acidity and great harmony and balance. Accessible but serious.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Holden Manz Syrah 2022, WO Franschhoek, 14.5% Abv.

Deep, broody and expressive, layered with saline black currant fruits, oystershell, salty black liquorice and a delicately creamy vanilla pod spice. Cool, seamless and supple in the mouth, this has 30% whole clusters, tank fermented with a 10% oak portion, then aged for 15 months. Textural, plush and creamy, there is an underlying vibrancy, a savoury chargrilled complexity and an attractive sweet black peppercorn spice on the finish. A very attractive, complete wine with great appeal.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Holden Manz Cabernet Sauvignon 2023, WO Franschhoek, 14% Abv.

A dusty, wet slate and Granitic expression with broody aromatics, black currant, black plum, chai tea and subtle graphite notes. Harmonious, plush and delicately sappy and leafy, the wine shows elegance and balance, a creamy textural depth and subtle liquorice, saline cassis and earthy plummy nuances. An accessible, comforting, harmonious bottle. A real crowd pleaser.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Holden Manz Cabernet Sauvignon 2024, WO Franschhoek, 15.1% Abv.

Using 25% whole cluster with the rest destemmed, the wine is lifted and perfumed, there is real intensity with blue and purple fruits, crème de cassis, black cherry, with a beautiful hint of freshness. Full and opulent in the mouth, this has the flesh and a depth of note, broad, creamy yet still attractively pithy with pinpoint varietal characters. An incredibly well made, plush wine with a texture of velvet, integrated acids and a generous finish for the ages. Superb.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Holden Manz Cabernet Franc Reserve 2024, WO Franschhoek, 15.1% Abv.

Bottled in July 2026, it was aged in 70% new oak for 27 months. (3.48pH) The aromatics are dense, dark and savoury, layered with freshly tilled earth, black plum, earthy bramble berries, and a hint of sappy mulberry fruits. Bold, intense and concentrated on the palate, the black fruits creamy but fresh, delicately spicy with a mineral burst from the Granitic spice. Opulent with a hedonistic finish. Quite a profound style.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW

The Holden Manz wines are available retail from South African specialist merchant Museum Wines and to the trade from Vindependents.

The premium boutique estate of Holden Manz is nestled in the beautiful Franschhoek Valley and stands as one of the most impressive winery visits available to tourists. The Holden Manz wine range is indeed extensive, with multiple white, Rose and red cuvees produced, but it’s their Reserve wines range that draws more attention than possibly even their super premium Elysium prestige cuvee.

The Reserve red wine range consist of the Holden Manz Merlot Reserve, the Cabernet Franc Reserve, and their Reserve Syrah, three wines that every year can be counted among the top red fine wines produced in the Franschhoek Valley. The Holden Manz wine style is unashamedly plush, opulent and hedonistic with “plenty of meat on the bone” when it comes to concentration and depth of fruit. What makes their three Reserve reds even more interesting is the way French winemaker Thierry Haberer manages to impart ample elegance, finesse and classical balance to these impressively dense and powerful wines. I recently tasted two of the three long awaited 2021 Reserve expressions to see what Thierry had crafted in this unusually long, cool vintage in the Cape.

Holden Manz Merlot Reserve 2021, WO Franschhoek, 14% Abv.

A deep, dark, opaque purple colour, this premium Cuvee boasts rich alluring aromatics of sweet cedar oak, red toffee apples, grilled nuts, nougat and sweet molasses hints before vibrant notes of mulberry, black currant and sweet black plums emerge. The palate is fabulously opulent and plush with a rich luxurious textural density that’s seamlessly creamy, broad and hedonistic. But true to the Reserve’s style, it carries off its richness, power and concentration with an effortless elegance and ease thanks to the vintage’s underlying freshness and suppleness. Lovers of Holden Manz’s premium wines will revel in this delicious wine’s intensity and right bank Pomerol’esque plushness and elegance.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Tasting the 2020 Reserve at the Estate with Gerard Holden in March 2024.

One of the Cape’s stand out Cabernet Franc reds.

Holden Manz Cabernet Franc Reserve 2021, WO Franschhoek, 14% Abv.

This is another highly anticipated wine from the 2021 vintage, and in true form, the Reserve range from Holden Manz delivers again… in spades. Deep, dark and opaque in colour with a delicate ruby rim, the aromatics on this cuvee is wonderfully rich and opulent, with succulent layers of perfumed black currant, black plum compote, cherry cola and sweet sappy cedar spice that is intertwined with vanilla pod and brown breakfast toast nuances. In the mouth, the wine is rich, broad, and luxurious, with an intricate fine grained textured but also luscious layers of black cherry, crème de cassis, pecan pie, and seductive freshly baked blueberry crumble notes on a vanilla pod-tinged finish. Seamless premium oaking together with a cool freshness, impressive complexity, and an all-round harmonious balance leave you gasping for another sip. Bravo Gerard and Thierry! Drink now on release and over the next 8 to 10+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Holden Manz wines are available retail in the UK from South African Specialist Merchant Museum Wines, and to the wine trade from Vindependents.