‘STOKKIE’ PROCESS

DID YOU KNOW?

Unlike most other wine farms, the Bosman wine community is involved right from the plant cell to the wine in your glass. We thought you might like to know more about what happens behind the scenes.

PLANT IMPROVEMENT FACILITY

In the Bosman laboratory our plant pathologists work with cutting edge technology to eradicate disease and propagate healthy, resilient vines.

GRAFTING FOR SUSTAINABILITY

It all started with a pesky little bug, a plant louse named phylloxera which attacks the roots of the vine. The vineyards of the entire world were decimated by this bug in the late nineteenth century. The only antidote for this was to graft vines onto rootstock that is resistant to phylloxera, hence, almost all vines planted anywhere in the world is grafted, a skilled and intensive process that only occurs on a small handful of wine farms situated in the Boland.

…..AND THEN?

Once grafted, the ‘stokkies’ (vines) spend time in an incubation store so that the graft can ‘take’. Then these grafted vines are planted out into fields across the farm, spending 9 months developing roots and buds. In the following June, these are uprooted, rolled into bundles and collected by grape farmers from around the Cape Winelands, even as far away as the Orange River region.

‘STOKKIETYD’

So, while the winter season is relatively quiet on other wine farms, here at Bosman it’s a hive of activity when our community moves into sheds to cut and graft 12 million ‘stokkies’ per year. It is a massive logistical challenge too as various clones of each varietal are grafted onto various types of rootstock (350 combinations), depending on the terroir of the farm where these grafted vines will be planted.

So next time your pour a glass of Bosman, bear in mind that at least 50 pairs of hands were involved in the making of that wine, all from our farm, and all ‘dedicated to better’.

Watch how we graft vines during winter here…..