Winter and the warmth of red wine A welcome …€¦ · Winter and the warmth of red wine A warm winter welcome to all our readers. With the new season finally here, it's time to

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Winter and the warmth of red wine A warm winter welcome to all our readers. With the new season finallyhere, it's time to curl up in front of the fireplace, sharing a glass of heartyred wine with friends and family.

Speaking of red wines ... we're about to launch a newcomer, the La MottePierneef Shiraz Grenache, with the promise of other interesting reds to bereleased in the near future. Wine-maker Edmund is confident that this winewill be as great a success as La Motte's Shiraz Viognier. For more newsabout La Motte Pierneef Shiraz Grenache, read “Another Newcomer” inthe right column.

During May, La Motte featured on the awards front with another accoladefor our 2007 La Motte Shiraz Viognier – a Gold Medal at the DecanterWorld Wine Awards! We are extremely proud of the success of this wineand I would like to thank each and every person involved in producing,bottling and marketing this achiever.

Over the recent months, La Motte has been a beehive of activities,involved in extensive alterations to the cellar and tasting room, as well asfurther rearrangements on the farm. Things are gradually calming down,though, and soon we'll be able to raise a glass of red in celebration ofhighly satisfactory results.

Here’s to the warmth of reds!Hein Koegelenberg

New series of classical concerts By now, our readers know that La Motte's culture of excellence reaches far beyondwine-making and also embraces the wonder of music. La Motte's second-semesterseries of classical concerts starts in August, so grab those diaries and enter thefollowing, highly recommended events.

SATURDAY 15 AUGUST

EVGENIE GREKOVA (mezzo-soprano) IRINA PURYSHINSKAJA (piano)Evgenie Grekova will sing extracts from her performance as winner of the 2006UNISA International Singing Competition (Category Lieder) – amongst others, songsby Schubert and her fellow-countryman Rachmaninoff. She will be supported by herofficial piano accompanist Irina Puryshinskaja.

SATURDAY 5 SEPTEMBER

DENIS KIRCH (flute) MARIKA HOFMEYR (piano) At present, Denis Kirch is professor in the tuition of flute in Paris. On this, his first concert tour of South Africa, he isaccompanied by South African born pianist Marika Hofmeyr, currently teaching piano in Nice, France. Theprogramme comprises the most popular works in the flute repertoire, by composers such as Händel, Leclair andHummel.

FRIDAY 9 AND SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER

LIESL STOLTZ (flute) VICTOR TICHARD (piano) FRANK MALLOWS (drums) BRYDON BOLTON (double bass)

The French jazz pianist and composer, Claude Bolling, has gained international recognition with the way in whichhe blends elements of jazz and classical music. His two Suites for Flute and Piano Trio, presented as part ofFranschhoek Uncorked, have been performed in the world's largest concert halls, with flutists such as Jean-PierreRampal and James Galway.

FRIDAY 30 OCTOBER

MATTHEW REID (clarinet) CAMERATA TINTA BAROCCAAs part of the Franschhoek Classical Music Festival, Matthew Reid and members of the highly-rated stringensemble, Camerata Tinta Barocca, led by Quentin Crida, will perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concert, transcribed for asmaller group of musicians. At the 2008 National Arts Festival at Oudtshoorn, Reid was awarded the prize for thebest classical music performance. Rossini's Sonata for Strings in G Major will also be played.

SATURDAY 28 NOVEMBER

CHRISTMAS CONCERTChristmas time at La Motte is always celebrated in a special way. True to tradition, this concert will be devoted to aprogramme in the spirit of the Festive Season, presented by a variety of popular artists.

SATURDAY 12 DECEMBER

ZANNE STAPELBERG AND JAMES GRACEZanne Stapelberg, the internationally acclaimed soprano, will perform with guitar virtuoso James Grace in aninnovative programme of music ranging from the world of opera to flamboyant Spanish lyrics on Saturday, 12thDecember.

Concerts start at 19:00 in the historic cellar on La Motte, R45 Main Road, Franschhoek Valley.Admission: R125, 00 per person. Bookings: Angela at 021 876 3119 or at the La Motte tasting venue. www.la-motte.com

Franschhoek the heart of festivities

A welcome addition to ourPierneef stable:

La Motte Pierneef ShirazGrenache

2009 marks 25 years of Shirazproduction at La Motte. And it's only thebeginning, because we believe thatShiraz is becoming one of the mostpredominant of the future varieties ofSouth African wine. In broadening itsappeal and keeping with this belief, weare aiming to stay consistently ahead ofthe Shiraz pack by introducing newblends and varietals and focusing onproducing different styles of Shiraz.

La Motte is by now well-known for itshighly recognised Shiraz Viognier blend.This wine works so beautifully given thata small amount of Viognier stabilises thewine’s colour and harmonises the paletteand gives an almost perfumed effect,leading with jasmine and apricot. TheShiraz Viognier blend originated in theNorth of the Rhône valley, while the moreSouthern regions have more varietals towork with such as Grenache,Mourvedre, Carignan and Cinsaut.These are some of the more well known,with Grenache the most dominant.

To make our recently launched 2007 LaMotte Pierneef Shiraz Grenache, we startwith Shiraz as the base and the youngerGrenache grapes add dimension andcomplexity. We also add a small amountof Mourvedre in an attempt to get theperfect blend and balance. The Shirazcomponent is from Wellington and WalkerBay while the Grenache and Mouvedreoriginate from Darling.

This new wine is a rewardingcombination of varietals and a true SouthAfrican example of this well-known blend.We are thrilled to be adding to our existingShiraz stable and have no doubt that thiswine will be as well received as our otherShiraz wines.

If you would like to enquire about this wineor make an appointment to come andtaste it please call the La Motte tastingroom on:

Tel. +27 (0)21 876 3119 Fax +27 (0)21 876 3446 Or email on e-mail [email protected] .

2008 La MotteChardonnay released

Literally South Africa's own corner of France, Franschhoek will devote the weekend of 11and 12 July to a colourful celebration of its French connection during its Bastille Dayfestivities.

Highlights include a Food and Wine Marquee, a French Film Festival, the Chefs' andWaiters' Race, Pêtanque, the Barrel Rolling Competition and lots more! La Motte will join inthe festivities on several fronts.

This is the ideal opportunity for everyone attending to sport a French look wearing a beret,says Franschhoek Tourism CEO, Jenny Prinsloo.

For more info, please visit www.franschhoek.org.za .

La Motte – proud association with fine wine and fine music We are extremely excited to announce our newly-signed title sponsorship of the Franschhoek La Motte ClassicalMusic Festival. The festival will take place from 30 October until 1 November, with the opening concert being hostedin the historic wine cellar at La Motte.

“At La Motte we believe strongly in the symbiosis between the fine art forms of winemaking and classical music. Wehave long held our classic concerts at the Estate and the next step, to sponsoring the Franschhoek La MotteClassical Music Festival, seemed a natural progression,” says Hein Koegelenberg, CEO of the La Motte Estate.

The festival will take place from 30th October – 1st November 2009 with the opening concert being hosted at the LaMotte Estate in Franschhoek. The collection of young stars featured during the three day festival, all of whom havebeen peer-reviewed and recognised as the best of the best, will include Matthew Reid, the Mozart Clarinet ConcertoKKNK Prize winner, Ben Schoemann (UNISA International Prize Winner) performing a hauntingly beautiful pianorecital, and the highly acclaimed Libertas Choir performing their masterpiece, Jericho, the production of whichincludes music from Bach, Handel and Mendelssohn, beautifully mixed with African rhythms and lyrics. Also on theprogramme is a garden concert guitar and piano duel between James Grace and Christopher Duigan, which willno doubt be as powerful as it is beautiful, plus much more.

The final day will see local talent from the Bridgehouse School’s developmental music programme, as well as festivalmusicians, perform a community concert at Dennegeur Estate adjacent to La Motte, coordinated by national pianotreasure, Chris Duigan.

Tickets go on sale from 1st July 2009. For more information on the festival programme or to purchase tickets pleasevisit www.webticket.co.za

Pietie’s Oxtail “potjie”Our viticulturist Pietie le Roux has supplied us with this recipe for a scrumptious “potjiekos” which we'd like to sharewith our readers. Ingredients

75 ml olive oil2,5 kg oxtail (young)2 teaspoons chopped garlic2 leeks2 onions, finely chopped1 sweet pepper, chopped2 celery stalks8 carrots, sliced in rings20 small potatoes, peeled16 small onions, wholepacket of button mushroomscan of butter beanshalf a cup of Bisto chopped parsleyhandful of lemon peel, cubed50 ml brandy

Sauce750 ml 2005 La Motte Millennium375 ml chutney 60 ml Worcestershire saucehalf a packet of oxtail-soup powder30 ml dried, mixed herbsteaspoon lemon pepper salt to taste

Method

Heat olive oil over moderate coals in a no. 3 pot and cook meat in oil for 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for a furtherminute. Add onions, sweet pepper, celery and lemon peel over meat and refrain from stirring. Mix all the sauceingredients together and pour over. Let the pot simmer for 3 hours. Add boiling water if necessary.

Add carrots, potatoes and onions after 3 hours and let pot simmer for another 45 minutes. Lastly, add mushrooms,butter beans and Bisto and simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve with rice and enjoy with a glass of 2006 La MotteMillennium!

For more information about La Motte please visit our website at www.la-motte.com

With the exceptionally favourable 2008season – described by some asEuropean – conditions were just aboutperfect for creating an excellentChardonnay. The period towardsripening was cool and sugar levels roseslowly. Rain, however, complicatedtiming. Grapes were harvested ondifferent dates which resulted in acomplex layering of flavours in the wine.

The aroma has an intense citrus blossomnose, supported by fresh pineapple andyellow apple fruit. A straw nuance revealsthe contribution of the oak. The palate issilky-round, with hints of caramel andnuts, while the finish lingers with limefreshness.

Essentially, it's a fine-food wine, excellentwith caviar, snails, carpaccio, pâté,creamy cheese and a wide variety ofsea-foods.

Incidentally, this Chardonnay hasactually made history, as it was the firstwine to be bottled with screw tops in theLa Motte cellar ... and quite probably notthe last!

Our presence at theNederburg Auction

Once again La Motte wines will shine atthe Nederburg Auction, held this year on11 and 12 September at the NederburgWine Estate in Paarl. La Motte winesselected for the auction are:

2000 La Motte ShirazA full-bodied wine with a deep violetcolour and a long, smooth finish. The winewas kept on the skins for ten days afterfermentation and matured in 225-litre oakbarrels for 21 months. La Motte 2000Shiraz has an excellent ageing potentialand is a secure investment for theconnoisseur. A total of 3150 cartons werebottled at La Motte in October 2002.

2001 La Motte MillenniumThis signature red blend of La Motte is amedium to full-bodied wine with a lingeringafter-taste and well-balanced prune andcherry tobacco flavours. Afterfermentation, the best barrels of eachvarietal were selected and the contentsblended in the ratio Cabernet Sauvignon(39%), Merlot (39%) and Cabernet Franc(22%). A total of 3 500 cartons werebottled at La Motte in January 2004.

1999 La Motte Cabernet SauvignonA deep-coloured wine that showsprominent dark chocolate and earthymushroom flavours, with a well-balancedmid-palate. The wine shows prominentdark chocolate and earthy mushroomflavours. Approximately 4 400 cartonswere bottled at La Motte in May 2002.