De Bos Handpicked Merlot 2014

***Bronze at the International Wine Challenge 2014***

Five. That’s how many reasons there are to love this wine. Let us begin:

1) De Bosman is a passionate, fifth generation family-owned winery, having first moved to the Lelienfontein farm in 1798.

2) Their 250 workers own 30% of the estate so are very invested in every aspect of production.

3) They use solar panels and everything from grafting the vines to picking the wines is done by hand.

4) It is fair trade.

5) This red has fantastic sense of place, with the classic Wellington Merlot flavours of rich chocolate and pepper underpinning the lush red and black fruit. Yee-haw.

Bosman Family Vineyards have established themselves as a leading ethical producer of premium wine and De Bos handpicked vineyards is their premium fairtrade offering. At Bosman Family Vineyards a legacy of eight generations is respectfully continued on Lelienfontein Estate after the first generation settled on the farm in 1798. The farm was originally issued to French Huguenot, Philip de Royan in 1699 by the governor of the time, Willem Adriaan van der Stel. After the last batches were made on Lelienfontein in 1956, the Bosman family started to focus more on their vine nursery for business reasons. Then, after an absence of 51 years, the first wine was released from their newly renovated 250 year old cellar in 2007. The De Bosman family is devoted to making responsible, handcrafted drinks with their goal to produce wines of integrity, with pure varietal quality and origin-specific characteristics.

Winemaker Corlea Fourie says: ‘I was always intrigued by wine. Thought it was fascinating that a liquid; made from grapes [but you] could smell and taste of random things like strawberries, liquorice and chocolate! I wanted to know why. I loved physical science and biology as school subjects. I knew I wanted to do something that included those lines of study, but also knew that a lab or office wouldn't be my preferred working space. I worked a gap year in hospitality in Scotland and the rest of Britain. The social connection to wine linked up to my initial preferences. The penny dropped and here we are 15 years later.
Graduated from Stellenbosch University with a bachelor in science with Oenology and viticulture as main subjects’.

The grapes come from their Merlot vineyard in Bovlei Valley, Wellington, and the cooled grapes were hand-sorted after de-stemming. During fermentation plenty of aerated pump overs were conducted as an extraction method before undergoing malolactic fermentation in contact with new French oak.

De Bos Merlot showcases the very best in bright Merlot fruit from Wellington, with its deep purple appearance, fresh savoury complexity, lavish plum aromas and a slight grip. This would work beautifully with Italian dishes such as a tomato-based roasted chicken, with mushrooms and parmesan.