
The La Motte Estate
Situated in the beautiful Franschhoek Valley in South Africa’s Cape winelands, La Motte is home to some of South Africa’s finest wines, recognized internationally for their exceptional quality. In harmony with the production of wines, La Motte has also ventured into flower cultivation and the production of ethereal oils. True to its philosophy of a culture of excellence, La Motte maintains a programme of consistent quality improvement, reaching beyond wine production. The estate has a strong commitment to historic and cultural preservation, as well as the active socio-economic upliftment of its workers and their families. With its picturesque setting, historic buildings and rural atmosphere, La Motte is an enchanting destination for visitors to the winelands of the Cape.
La Motte is synonymous with the highest quality in wines. To carry the La Motte label, each wine has to reflect the greatest expertise in viticulture, combined with experience, passion and a creative flair in wine-making.
Annually a total of 1 000 tons of grapes are processed in La Motte's modern cellars, where old-world wine-making methods are combined with state-of-the-art technology.
History:
In 1695 a piece of land in the Franschhoek Valley was granted to German immigrant Hans Hattingh. In 1709 French Huguenot Pierre Joubert purchased the land and named it after the village of his birth in Provence, La Motte d’Aigues. With the planting of 4 000 vines in 1752, viticulture was established on La Motte by Huguenot descendant Gabriel du Toit. The farm passed through several owners before being acquired by the Rupert family in 1970.
Today, La Motte owner Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg and her husband Hein Koegelenberg, CEO of La Motte, oversee La Motte’s making of exceptional wines as well as diversifying La Motte's operations into flower and ethereal oil farming.
The La Motte Vineyards
The unique charm of La Motte’s wines can be attributed to particular soil types, a moderate climate as well as a team of dedicated experts who keep abreast of international viticultural and vinicultural practices.
Viticulturist Pietie le Roux, who majored in viticulture, viniculture and pomology at South Africa’s leading agricultural training institution, has been in charge of La Motte’s vineyards since 1986, assisted by a highly motivated workforce.
“Fine grapes make fine wines”, says Pietie, “therefore we constantly try to improve our harvest results and apply findings obtained from ongoing research and developments in viticulture”.
The most modern practices are employed in the selection of vineyard sites, rootstock and clones, grape varieties planted, vineyard facings and vine spacing. Through extra high trellis poles, a bigger canopy of leaves is created, allowing more leaves to absorb the sunshine, enhancing early ripening and the formation of prominent aromas. The bigger canopy also protects the grapes against direct sunshine. Vine growth is restricted, to limit grape size and promote a high-quality extract, ideal for the production of elegant, complex wines.
These practices are further refined by the precision of science. The latest technology is applied, including GIS (Geographical Information Systems), by which the farm is scanned by satellite, monitoring and controlling the effects of slopes, radiation, micro and macro climates and soil classification.
Through infrared scanning, vine conditions such as stress and irrigation demands can be pinpointed by vineyard block in order to be addressed accurately. In specified vineyards on the La Motte Nabot farm in the Walker Bay region – from where grapes for La Motte wines are obtained – SGS-certified organic farming is practised, totally eliminating the use of chemicals and insecticides, thus promoting health benefits.
Furthermore, La Motte is equipped with a weather station and temperature monitoring system – loggers in vineyards determine humidity, moist conditions and temperatures in zones where grape bunches are formed.
Conscious of the effects of agriculture on the natural habitat, La Motte is accredited to the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI), a partnership between the South African wine industry and the conservation sector. The objective is to help keep biodiversity intact so that species and ecosystems are able to adapt to changes in the environment and to recover more readily from disturbances in their natural growth system.
Grapes are sourced from the Elgin (34%), Franschhoek (20%), Walker Bay (20%), Nieuwoudtville (9%), Darling and West Coast (8%), Durbanville (5%) and Elim (4%).
Grapes from Franschhoek and Walker Bay are organically grown.
La Motte Merlot is made from 100 percent Merlot.
La Motte Merlot offers a bouquet of red currants, cherries and spicy oakiness. It is an elegant, well-balanced and juicy wine with an underlying, refreshing quality.
Excellent with lamb, roasts or casseroles.
Review:
"Medium garnet color. Aromas and flavors of smoked meat, toast, leather, grilled plum, baked cherry tart, cracked black pepper, and myrrh with a round, lively, dry medium body and a smooth, interesting, medium-long finish with notes of chocolate-covered pecans with well-integrated, fine, firm tannins and light oak flavor. A savory and juicy Merlot with a strong sense of place; try with most meat dishes."
- Beverage Testing Institute (April 2021), 90 pts
The Special Club concept started in 1971. A dozen wine growers from some old families of Champagne had an idea to familiarize people with the originality of the “Champagne de Vigneron” (Champagne of wine grower), thanks to prestigious vintages.
In the beginning, they created an association called the “Club des Viticulteurs Champenois” and chose a bottle with a special shape, created exclusively for them & used only by then. In 1988, they changed the bottle and the label. In 1999, the Club changed its name to “Club Trésor of Champagne.”
The Club Trésors comprises 28 artisan wine makers, selected from the finest areas of the Champagne region, each one recognized for the quality of their work. The Club Trésors is the only organization in Champagne to select its members according to a set of unrelenting quality standards:
Roland Champion's Special Club selection has rich and structured aromas. Very pleasant and generous roundness, nice length in mouth. Golden color with buttery and fruity aromas. All the expression of a magnificent terroir for your most pleasurable moments.
Maysara Autees Pinot Blanc is made from 100 percent Pinot Blanc
No oak
Autees is the ancient Persian Goddess that protects all plants, animals and trees on Earth. She is the protector of life and all things that grow.
A slightly richer episode of Pinot Blanc, tending towards monologues of ripe apricot and even lychee.
Act I is entitled: ‘Floral scents in the nose are pure honeysuckle alight on a cool breeze…’ Then the grizzled director cuts to a shock of acidity that beckons you back again.
Act II opens with a playful back-and-forth of the mineral laden mid-palate and a lilting tune of a green grass finish.
Act III is seldom noticed over your mile-wide smile.
At Maysara Winery & Momtazi Vineyard, we are committed to cap-turing the complete expression of our land and conveying it to you through superior quality in every bottle. We practice only low-impact, holistic farming methods in our Demeter Certified Biodynamic Vineyard. We are confident these practices are the best way to capture the true essence of the soil in our fruit and ensure health of our vines and the unique accent of our terroir for generations. This philosophy is carried into the cellar, where Demeter Certified Biodynamic wine-making practices produce wines with intensity, sophistication and elegance while maintaining a purity of both fruit and earth.
Stellar with the firmer cheeses, fresh, ripe fruit and subtly herbed seafood.