Bosman with a Boss Lady

I left Karen mid-afternoon headed down towards the warehouse district off Mombasa Rd – ICD. In my phone was my invitation to a wine introduction tasting with a special note from the host Lynette to call her should I get lost. Lost..? My anxiety over getting lost on a highway and driving to another town kicked in. Google, please be my guide.
I got there in one piece and on time! Fantastic! As I walked in I was greeted by the lovely staff at Under The Influence and was ushered into the new tasting room above their offices. Off The Vine is the name and it’s a quaint, clean, tastefully decorated space overlooking the wide open ICD road.
Victoria Munywoki was already there and right behind me was miss. Winenjiru my WSET wine teacher. Here we met a lovely, bubbly South African lady named Julia Moore. She is the communication manager at Bosman wines and is the Boss Lady referred to in the title! A nickname given to her by a guest at the tasting after the third-ish wine.
We were poured a glass of Generation 8 Rose – more on this later- and began chatting away as we awaited arrival of the rest of the guests. It is in this conversation that the true beauty behind the Bosman Family Vineyards was revealed.
Julia informed us that the reason their new line of wine is named Generation 8 is that the winery is under the 8th generation of the Bosman family! Wow! 8 generations of tradition and perseverance since the vineyards were started in 1810. Not only that, but some of the farm workers are on their 5th generation. The collective skill and expertise must be on 10.
Longevity isn’t the only noteworthy thing about the vineyards. 260 employees at Bosman own 26 percent of the company stake making it the largest land reform transaction in the South African wine industry. They have 5 winemakers and they are all women. This is a great boon for the voice of women in the wine world.
They have the Adama Wines branch that makes the HER Wines. Here every last employee is a woman hence the name of the wine. And not just women, but black women. From the winemaker Praisy Dlamini, down to the person that does payroll. Now this is empowerment.
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Bosman wines have also taken it upon themselves to embrace a more environmentally sustainable approach to producing wine.
They have stopped using Roundup which is very harmful to general plant life, animal health, including humans and the overall environment. They now uses gentler pesticides spread by drone to reduce diesel use and tractor soil compaction. Bosman nurseries also produce 60% of the grape vines in South Africa (wine grapes, table grapes and raisin grapes). What DOESN’T this brand do?
By this time all the invited guests had shown up and now we got down to the fun part. Wine tasting!

Wine tasting attendees with ms. Julia in the middle holding a bottle of Bosman

​Below are the wines we tasted and you can use this as a guide when you see these on the shelves or on a wine list.
Bosman Generation 8 Rose: A dry rose with notes of wild strawberry with good fresh acidity.
Bosman Generation 8 Chenin Blanc:  A full bodied chenin with Apricot notes and flavours because 2% of the grapes in the wine are dried on old apricot drying racks. Very interesting.
Bosman Generation 8 Merlot: A fruit forward wine with notes of cherry, red beries and green peppers with just a touch of residual sugar to round it out. P. S This is not a sweet wine.
Bosman Generation 8 Shiraz: A pleasant wine with dried fruit, black pepper, tobacco and blackberry flavors. Can be had on its own or with a meat dish.
Bosman Generation 8 Cabernet Sauvignon: This approachable Cabernet Sauvignon is full bodied, with notes of blackruits, bell pepper and a long finish.
Her Sauvignon Blanc: Intense nose of citrus, passion fruit and grass. Reminiscent of a New Zealand wine. The acid is medium so if high acid is a problem for you, then this is the Sauvignon Blanc for you.
Her Pinotage:  This wine came in 3rd at the Old Mutual trophy show and one can see why. A very easy drinking pinotage with juicy strawberry, raspberry and sweet spice flavours.
All the wines were a hit and we wound up the tasting enjoying the rest of the wine and chatting away.
If ever you are in need of well made, approachable, easy drinking wine, please don’t hesitate to reach for a bottle or Bosman or HER. You won’t regret it. And, as you are enjoying your glass of HER, please remember me, your wine friend. Injabulo!