LaMotte is in the blood. Literally. It was in 1688 that Pierre Joubert, forebear of moi, packed up and left the town of La Motte D’Aigues in Provence to flee from those fellow Catholic countrymen wishing to cause him and his fellow Protestants bloody bodily harm due their faith.
Cut to 2012 and LaMotte is pretty much on everyone’s lips. This Franschhoek wine estate has gone about setting new standards for just about everything wine tourism related. Art. Great cuisine. Majestic scenery. Spectacular modern and atmospheric venues. An air of hospitality so dense you can cut it with a Nikon?+¦-+???+¦-ú?-¦?+¦-+?-+ LaMotte oozes uniqueness and signature. It is one of the wine world’s great wineland destinations.
Those having had the pleasure of visiting LaMotte and experiencing all this will be bearers of the term “emotional take-out”, something I learnt from an Australian wine tourism fundi. Loosely translated from Ozzie, this means that a bloody marvellous experience will stay with you, leading to a positive association with the venue’s products. In other words, give punters a good time and they will continue supporting you once they leave the farm gate.
In this LaMotte seems to have succeeded. Whenever I receive a freebie from the estate, I can’t help but to experience a feeling of immense positivity and alacrity when looking at the DHL delivery.
I like it lots, immediately.
A recent LaMotte delivery was a real serious number: the M+¬thode Cap Classique which is presented beautifully in an antique-looking French bottle and even has a larnie sleeve-sort of thing made from soft material with a string to close the top. Quite a production.
Ignoring the temptation to haul-out this extravagantly elegant bottle whilst impressing guests, I chilled the blighter and popped it in my office, as professional duty is more important than ostentatious and conversation-grabbing dinner hostings.
The first thing I can say is that the 2009 version of LaMotte’s MCC is miles apart from the 2008 and much more to my liking. The 2008 took the green apple thing a bit too seriously and was, well, just another bubbly.
2009 has, however, delivered a creature of another dimension all together.
No apple. No tiring layers of yeasty burnt biscuit. No “just another bubbly”. This wine is extremely classy, for the very reason that it is a wine first and bubbly second.
The 60-40 ratio of Chardonnay-Pinot Noir splashes a lot of juicy fruit on this canvas, with aromas of citrus and raspberry jumping at you so hard you might want a fly-swatter. The base wine is a picture of elegance and finesse, and this has been maintained throughout the 25 month bottle maturation.
The second fermentation must have been set-off by an extremely fine yeast as the sparkle and bubble is beautifully integrated and the primary grape flavours left unmasked. The bubble is refreshing, but without any excessive crunchiness. The finish is fine, clean with perky fruit length. No bitter, chemical tastes of a hasty secondary fermentation.
If you are going to drop R300 on a MCC, this is going to deliver. And the memories are free.
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Right now R300 will buy me a bottle of Drappier Carte d’or, or Lallier Grande reserve, or Mially Grand Cru or some Tribaut (with spare change. Does the La Motte bubbly really measure up to any of them?
Johan, I don’t give a fuck. I got the wine for free.