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Bosman Family Vineyards are fairly well known as leaders with regards to their social responsibility initiatives within the wine industry. In 2009, they performed the biggest land reform transaction in South African history, when they handed over a 26% stake in the Bosman Adama wine business, and they’re also the biggest Fair Trade producer in South Africa (which is still a big deal, even if you don’t agree with all that Fair Trade stands for). Then aside from that there is a whole list of other projects going; community centres, childcare facilities, housing projects, schools, and healthcare. They are one of the very few producers that really understand that Human sustainability is core to both economical sustainability and environmental sustainability.

But that doesn’t mean they skimp on their environmental efforts. They have gone to the trouble of certifying 10% of their vineyards, but more important than their certifications are the methods that they use to farm all 320ha of their vineyards across three major wine regions. I took more about their take on “regenerative viticulture” in the video, so rather than repeat all that here, I thought I’d touch on the wine of the day.

Now, you have yet to sign up for your Monthly HanDrinksSolo Wine Subscription then you won’t be able to taste everything that we mention here, but in order to diminish your deep sense of FOMO, I have left my tasting notes and some technical specs:

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👃🏼 The initial nose is a hugely surly vanguard of beeswax, shoe polish, and paraffin. But that is why you always decant skin contact wines! As those initial elements blow off, it reveals oranges, apricots, dried fynbos.

👄 The palate is an arresting mix of bright oranges and tart apricots, mixed with deeper slightly sweeter Sicilian blood orange and a sweet herbal puff of honeybush tea on the finish. Enormously complex. White pepper spice on the tail.

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Wine of Origin Wellington. 100% Grenache Blanc. The fruit is harvested from bush vines planted in 2011 on decomposed granite soils on a vineyard named Kleinplasie (which means “small farm”). The grapes are natural fermentation lasted 3 weeks on the grape skins with daily punch downs and pump-overs. The wine was then gently pressed, aged in 25% new Russian oak for 8 months prior to bottling. 

Alc 13.11% | RS 2.3 g/l | pH 3.27 | TA 5.9 g/l |