WINE BUSINESS | Stokkiesdraai in Wellington with Bosman Family Vineyards

• Bosman Family Vineyards was recently named Tim Atkin MW’s Viticulturist of the Year, though, on closer inspection, this eighth-generation Wellington farm is so much more. 

• The farm Lelienfontein in Wellington has been in the Bosman family since 1810. Here, they have been grafting a third of South Africa’s vines since 1956, and in 2006, eighth-generation Petrus Bosman renovated the 270-year-old cellar to start making wine (again). 

• Today, the business includes the original vine nursery, a few originally Huguenot farms in the Wellington Bovlei, (one in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and one in the Karoo), 19 wines (at last count) and this is all 26% owned by the Adama Trust, named for the Appollis family, who have lived and worked alongside the Bosmans here for many generations, and now stretches to include 450 workers and a 3000-strong community living on the farms. Which, alongside an all-female winemaking team, important vine research, and the first planting and bottling of the Italian grape, Nero d’Avola, in Africa, makes for an impressive story of transformation.

Did you know that 80% of vine cuttings in South Africa come from Wellington?

Of that, the Bosman Adama vine nursery supplies one-third of South African grafted vine cuttings.

The Bosmans have been cultivating vines and making wine on the Lelienfontein farm in Wellington since 1810, deciding to focus exclusively on the vine nursery (propagating vine cuttings for the industry at a time when farms were still attempting this specialised field themselves) in 1962. Eighth-generation Petrus Bosman had always dreamed of completing the circle and making wine under the Bosman brand, and in 2006, he realized that dream. Fresh out of university, they renovated the 270-year-old cellar on the original property and started producing wine with the help of winemaker Corlea Fourie.

Given its many moving parts and people, it seems almost impossible to ascertain the true extent of the operation. The four Bosman children and their families are all installed on the farm in various key roles, from Petrus as Managing Director to Pieter Daniel, as farmer; Jannie, the nursery specialist; and Antonia, managing the Leeurivier Karoo Farm with her family. Not to mention the 450 workers that now own 26% of the operation via the Adama Trust (so named for Adam Appollis, whose family has worked alongside the Bosmans for multiple generations) since 2007.

There are over 3000 people across multiple generations now benefitting and living on the farm, sending their children to high school and college, running crèches, and receiving housing and healthcare. There are also two Adama apartment blocks in Wellington. So many stories. Diego Appollis, who grew up on one of the Bosman Adama farms, now plays for the Sharks rugby team. The three women who run their winemaking endeavours include longtime winemaker, now cellarmaster Corlea Fourie and winemakers Maryke Botha and Maria Gant, who oversee their six wine ranges. Unsurprisingly, their inclusive business model made their Fairtrade certification in 2008 a dead cert.

Did YOU know South Africa produces 77% of the world’s Fairtrade wines?

There are currently 69 accredited producers, bottlers and vineyard owners, including (but not limited to) Bosman Adama, Bruce Jack Wines, Cape Point Vineyards, DGB, Journey’s End, Eenzaamheid, Fairview, Kleine Zalze, Leeuwenkuil, MAN Vintners, Merwida, Mulderbosch, among many others. Fairtrade certification helps to strengthen the position of farmers and workers in the value chain, ensuring a fair price and Fairtrade premium to invest in socio-economic and environmental projects, basically ensuring EVERYONE does the right thing. A statistic that doesn’t often enjoy the airtime it warrants and hard proof of the transformation afoot in the industry.

I sat down with Carla Bosman recently, wife of Petrus, who runs their marketing division, and she laughingly related that they started out marketing their wines in 2007 to the 7000-strong Bosman family database, selling the wines quite literally to their namesakes. Wise, though I imagine many of these sales calls have become lifelong conversations. It makes sense that, given their focus on advancement within their community, Bosman Adama would also look at advancement in other areas of the business. They are currently experimenting with a whole host of varieties and crossings that are waterwise, heat-tolerant and disease-resilient, as well as researching ways to outgrow virus during propagation. This forward-thinking resulted in Petrus bringing in the Italian variety, Nero d’Avola, in 2004.

Only two out of 50 cuttings survived, which they grafted onto rootstock and then propagated and planted in a vineyard, harvesting grapes for the first time in 2009. They made the first wine in 2014 and have recently included a Rosé. Of the 2022 vintage Tim Atkin MW rated it 91 points and wrote: “Nero, short for the Italian variety Nero d’Avola, has been part of the Bosman range since 2014. Elegant and ruby red in colour, it’s a lovely, charming, refined red with top notes of ginger spice, plum and red berries, well-integrated 15% new wood and supple, food-friendly tannins.” To market it, Petrus took it way beyond the Bosman database, working in collaboration with family friend and TV personality Thapelo Mokoena to establish Bosman Bakoena Brands (they go by @nerowineglobal on Instagram), to market this distinctly Italian grape in Wellington to a new market, and winningly so. Quite literally breaking the mould on what you THINK Wellington should be, though totally on brand for Bosman Adama.

If you are looking for heritage, their Site-Specific range includes the Optenhorst Chenin Blanc (the third oldest Chenin parcel in the country – planted in 1952), the Fides Grenache Blanc, and the Twyfeling Cinsaut, what Corlea calls the “new old vineyards of the future”. Tim Atkin MW recently rated the Optenhorst Chenin 95 points and wrote: “Optenhorst hails from the third-oldest Chenin Blanc vineyard in South Africa, planted in 1952, and the class shows in the glass. More restrained than recent vintages, this 2023 is lightly wooded in older oak, with fennel, ginger and thatch aromas, layers of peach, pear and citrus, lots of energy and extract and a lingering finish.”

I asked Tim Atkin, when I interviewed him in anticipation of the release of the 2024 SA Report, why Bosman, given ALL the incredible viticultural activities going on in SA Wine. He responded that the sheer scale of the transformation in the business from stokkies [vine cuttings] to vines to wine and people here was just beyond anything he had witnessed in the industry to date. And seemingly, having only scratched the surface with my one visit, I tend to agree. Given all the people who have an active hand in the operation, this sprawling business has a distinctly small farm feel, each area lovingly tended by someone who REALLY cares and owns a stake in it, and it shows. Which, combined with the fact that it is set in Wellington, one of the most unassuming, unpretentiously honest farming communities, in the most beautiful surroundings, in the Wagenmakersvalleij at the foot of the Limietberge – well, that’s just a plus.

With the revival of the Wellington wine route, I urge you to explore their new website, Go Wellington, and make a trip there. The Bosman tasting rooms, both in Wellington and in Hermanus called Frame House at Bosman Hermanus in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, are something to experience. 

Article published on 3 October 2024 by Dalene Fourie, News24