Customer service

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

I enjoyed three fantastic days out in the winelands last week – trawling around Constantia, the Swartland and Franschhoek with some Austrian representatives of Wein & Co. It was as though the Cape put on its best colours for the guests – the sun shone brightly, the skies were blue and the Swartland in particular was glorious in its verdant spring greenery. Needless to say the Austrians are back home with positive impressions and every intention of returning on holiday!

Other than the one-on-one tastings that had been set up with a few of the producers, we visited other wineries and experienced them as Joe Public would. It was an eye-opener because the experiences were positive. Not one negative episode! I didn’t set up the Austrians by explaining anything about the producers or the wines, leaving that to the tasting room assistants instead. Their comments were thus unscripted and not tainted by any bias.

Day three in Franschhoek was notable for one thing: the La Motte experience. All three guests were hugely impressed by the touristic and wine offering. The tasting was conducted by a delightful hostess who has been superbly trained. She was warm and welcoming without being obsequious. There was nothing she didn’t know about the wines and as soon as she realised she was talking to folks who knew a little more than the average punter, she was more forthcoming with technical details.

But it wasn’t just about the wines – the place itself is spectacular following its recent revamp. Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg and her husband Hein should be congratulated on what they’ve achieved. The museum with not only its Pierneef gallery but other works of art is a wonderful addition – as is the restaurant and the farm shop.

It’s this sort of thing that should make it a shoe-in for the Great Wine Capitals Global Network Best of Wine Tourism award. Will it be better off in the architecture, parks and gardens category or the wine tourism services? I don’t know because it would happily slot into both.

The overall Great Wine Capitals wine tourism services winner last year was Chateau Pape-Clément in Bordeaux’s Pessac-Leognan appellation. It was rewarded for the quality of its wine, restoration of the chateau and winery as well as the staging of professional and personal events. To my mind, La Motte ticks all those boxes – and then some. It’ll be interesting to see if the local judges agree