The 2024 La Motte Vin de Joie Rosé is a blend of 64% Grenache, 29% Mourvèdre and 6% Shiraz and 1% Cinsault. The grapes are from different districts in the Western Cape. The Grenache comes from Stellenbosch while the Mourvèdre and Cinsault come from Franschhoek and the Shiraz from Elim.

The 2024 grape growing season began with a memorable winter marked by two significant storms that reshaped the Franschhoek Valley, leaving some vineyards damaged or completely washed away. As the growing season unfolded, it started off steadily but was initially slowed by extended cool temperatures. The moisture brought some disease pressure, yet the winds that followed helped alleviate these concerns. With a warm, dry summer, the vineyards regained momentum, leading to an earlier harvest than in the past two years.

Different terroirs are represented in this wine. All three of the main mother rock formations in South Africa are represented in these terroirs. This includes decomposed variations of shale, granite, and Table Mountain sandstone. The varieties and different block conveniently ripen on different dates during the harvest and allowed the winemaking team to give special treatments and care to all the grapes in this dedicated rosé protocol. The vineyards are all trellised and all is picked by hand.

The varieties and different blocks were picked and processed separately. The grapes were cooled down for one night in a cold room to release as little colour as possible at crush. The grapes were destemmed and immediately fed into a press where the free run juice drained as it arrived. Only the first 600I juice from a ton were used to make this wine. After flotation, the wine was racked and fermented cool in a stainless-steel tank. The wine was then blended and stabilized before filtration and bottling took place.

Salmon pink to onion skin in colour this rosé is typical Mediterranean in appearance. Slightly restraint but welldefined melon, grapefruit, and nectarine on the nose with a hint of sweet candy floss in the young wine. The palate is polished and juicy on entry with the medium acidity bringing freshness and length. A fresh nectarine aftertaste lingers on the palate.

Alcohol 12,65% Vol
Residual sugar 2,0 g/l
Total acid 5,5 g/l
pH 3,26