Until recently, I was only vaguely aware of South Africa’s great landscape artist Jacob Hendrik Pierneef. But after a recent lunch in London with La Motte CEO Hein Koeglenberg, I came away much more informed both about Pierneef and this impressive Franschoek estate.
The connection between La Motte and Pierneef, who died in 1957, stems from the Rupert family’s considerable and generous passion for art and wine. This began with the late Anton Rupert and is now continued by his daughter Hanneli Rupert-Koeglenberg who now owns and runs La Motte along wither her husband Hein.
In fact, Hanneli and Hein are so passionate about Pierneef in particular that they have dedicated the largest room in the must-see La Motte Museum to the life and work of the painter. However, that is by no means all. They have also named the wine farm’s restaurant after him and a new collection of wines.
According to Hein, all the grapes for the premium Pierneef range have been sourced from organic vineyards in site specific terroirs. Each new release will also be adorned with a label depicting a different piece of art from the Pierneef ‘linoleum cut’ collection which is on display at the estate. So far two wines have been produced which I tasted below, together with a number of other La Motte wines.
Tasting the wines of La Motte:
