The La Motte Wine Estate in Franschhoek has recently been honoured with the 2008 Woolworths Eco Efficiency Supplier Award, an award given to Woolworths suppliers who have made a serious effort to reduce their impact on the environment; La Motte supplies Woolworths with potted Disa plants and three wines: the Woolworths La Motte Grand Rouge, the Woolworths La Motte Merlot, and the

Woolworths La Motte Cabernet Sauvignon/ Shiraz Reserve blend.

Hein Koegelenberg, CEO of La Motte, says that the focus on organic farming and winemaking fits in with the strong commitment made by the La Motte Estate to not only historic and cultural preservation, but also the importance of biodiversity, eco-efficiency and the promotion of organic farming within the wine industry.

La Motte’s eco-efficiency programme was implemented in order to optimise the use of resources through elimination, reduction, re-use and recycling in order to reduce capital and operating costs as well as to reduce the cost to the environment.

The independent judges recognised La Motte for their professional environmental management system which has contributed to the estate having reduced their relative water usage per litre of wine by 41 % and their relative energy usage by 17 % since 2004.