Moko Hills
When Donald van der Westhuizen was studying ecology at university, his father urged him to switch to viticulture.
Winemaker Donald van der Westhuizen saw his wine labels as the perfect place for an ode to the species he shares his land with.
Moko Hills is a 40-hectare family-owned estate nestled in the foothills of the Dunstan Range in Bendigo, Central Otago. It’s where Donald makes wines that pay tribute to the land – and to the flora and fauna that call it home.
Donald commissioned two watercolour images from Wellington artist Rachel Walker to capture the Moko Hills environment, and enlisted graphic designer Emma Holder to create the labels.
“I’ve always enjoyed Rachel’s work. I thought her style would work well in encapsulating the essence of this place, with the hope to give the potential customer a small window into what we, and Moko Hills, are about.”
The Chardonnay label celebrates the South Island kōwhai (which watches over the Chardonnay block at Moko Hills) and the pollinating experts who dwell in its blazing-yellow flowers: the European honeybee and its native counterpart, the Leioproctus.
The Pinot Noir bottle, meanwhile, hosts the Kawarau Gecko (often spied sunbathing on the schist outcrops) and a wiry native shrub called korokio (Corokia cotoneaster).
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“Each wine has a unique art piece, representing a group of species that embodies the encapsulated wine’s characteristics. It’s a homage to these species and a promise of protection.”
For the Kakano Wines Pinot Noir label, Donald took his camera on a walk through Moko Hills and snapped a close-up shot of the patterns, textures, and mineral makeup of the rocky outcrops.
“I thought the image reflected how I experience that Pinot – the iron oxide, quartz and schist imprinting an identity on the wine.”
