La Motte Wine Estate in Franschhoek is preparing for the festive season with a collection of food, wine and seasonal experiences, including special bakes, summer-inspired restaurant dishes and a new wine tasting. The estate’s Life is a Dream summer programme begins on 15 November 2026, bringing together its culinary offerings and an art exhibition that will run until the end of February 2027.
Food and the art of making are central to the season’s theme. At La Motte, this extends beyond the visual arts to include winemaking, baking, artisanal produce and the work of the estate’s chefs. Visitors can expect a range of seasonal offerings, with festive desserts and fresh summer ingredients featuring prominently.
Festive desserts to add to your table
A summer Christmas calls for desserts that make the most of seasonal produce, and La Motte’s Spens is preparing a festive Pavlova kit for those who want to serve something special without making everything from scratch.
Available from late November, the kit includes meringue bases prepared by the La Motte pastry kitchen, fresh seasonal cherries sourced from farmers in the Ceres Valley and cherry compote. All that is needed is whipped cream and a little time to assemble the dessert.
The kit offers a convenient option for festive entertaining, particularly for hosts who want to serve a homemade-style dessert without spending hours in the kitchen.
Another seasonal offering comes from the La Motte Bakery in the form of L’Etoile, its star-shaped, Panettone-style festive bread. Beautifully packaged and priced at R480, it makes a festive gift or an alternative dessert when served with a glass of La Motte Cap Classique.
Orders must be placed seven days in advance by emailing bakery@la-motte.co.za.
Summer flavours at L’Ami Family Brasserie
Seasonal ingredients take centre stage at L’Ami Family Brasserie, where the kitchen is serving dishes that make use of fresh produce and complementary flavours.
Highlights include a strawberry and burrata salad with La Motte’s award-winning olive oil, barrel-aged balsamic and mint. Another summery option combines heirloom tomatoes, radish, peaches, fig leaf oil, Hangop cheese and Parma ham.
For dessert, chef Stephan Moolman has created a Pavlova-inspired dish featuring summer berries, rose meringue, a Vin de Joie reduction, soft cream and rose petals. The combination brings together seasonal fruit and floral flavours in a dessert suited to summer entertaining.
L’Ami Family Brasserie is open seven days a week. Visitors can view the restaurant’s menu online and make reservations ahead of their visit.
A wine tasting for the summer season
Wine is another important part of La Motte’s festive offering. The estate’s special Life is a Dream tasting introduces visitors to three wines: Cap Classique, Chardonnay and Vin de Joie Rosé.
Served in Riedel stemware selected to complement each wine, the tasting costs R180 per person and is available at the La Motte Tasting Room.
The estate is also looking ahead to the Franschhoek Bubbly Festival, an annual celebration of Cap Classique wines, where visitors can enjoy La Motte’s Reserve Cap Classique.
The popular La Motte Harvest Experience is expected to return with the 2027 harvest, which is anticipated to begin in late January. The experience will give visitors an opportunity to see more of the winemaking process during harvest, with further details to be announced.
Seasonal baking returns with mosbolletjies
For many South Africans, harvest season also brings the familiar appeal of freshly baked mosbolletjies. La Motte’s bakery will once again prepare these traditional sweet, aniseed-flavoured breads when the 2027 harvest begins.
The seasonal baking is led by Ricardo Slawers, La Motte’s head baker and South Africa’s first Bread Sommelier. Mosbolletjies also inspired part of his Bread Sommelier thesis, reflecting the role of traditional baking in the estate’s culinary identity.
The bakery’s other festive offering, L’Etoile, is available to order throughout the festive season, while the Pavlova kits will be available from late November through the Spens.
More than food and wine
While food and wine are central to La Motte’s summer programme, the estate’s Life is a Dream theme also extends to its visual arts offering.
The accompanying exhibition opens at the La Motte Ateljee on 15 November 2026 and runs until the end of February 2027. Inspired by the 17th-century Spanish play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, it brings together works by 16 artists exploring the relationship between reality, imagination and memory.
Visitors can also enjoy the estate’s broader hospitality offering, making it possible to combine an exhibition visit with lunch, a wine tasting or a stop at the bakery and Spens.
Plan your visit
La Motte Wine Estate is situated in Franschhoek in the Cape Winelands.
- Pavlova kits: Available from late November at the Spens.
- L’Etoile festive bread: R480. Orders must be placed seven days in advance through the La Motte Bakery at bakery@la-motte.co.za.
- Life is a Dream wine tasting: R180 per person at the Tasting Room.
- L’Ami Family Brasserie: Open seven days a week. Reservations are recommended.
- JAN Franschhoek: Open Wednesday to Saturday for dinner and Sunday for lunch.
- La Motte Ateljee exhibition: 15 November 2026 to the end of February 2027.
The Spens, Bakery and Tasting Room are listed as open Monday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00. The Ateljee is open Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00.
For a summer visit to Franschhoek, La Motte offers an opportunity to combine seasonal food, wine and baking with a little art and culture.
ALSO SEE: Behind the scenes at La Motte Bakery: The making of their famous croissants
Behind the scenes at La Motte Bakery: The making of their famous croissants
