Bosman Family Vineyards “Twyfeling”
wellington , South africa | 2019
Surprise, surprise. Yet another South African selection hits the club. I think I have a crush on this place. It’s also another female-made wine just in time for Women’s History month, so let’s give a shout out to the winemaker Natasha Williams for making this superb juice!
Bosman Family Vineyards in particular has all of the ingredients I like when seeking out wines: a great backstory, artisanal winemaking, and scrumptious. When it comes to the history of winemaking in South Africa, the Bosman family stands out strongly. The family is now in their 8th generation as caretakers of this land in the Hermanus wine region (founded by Hermanus Bosman in 1707) located on the ocean in the coolest-climate wine growing region in the Western Cape. It was only recently in 2007 that the winery was given a facelift and introduced to more modern methods of winemaking, but the original cellar built in 1798 still remains and houses the barrels during the aging of the wines!
Cinsaut is also an interesting varietal since it got its start in France (spelled Cinsault) but eventually ended up in South Africa and became more of a workhorse varietal since it stands up well against intense sunlight which South Africa receives in spades. Recently more modern winemakers are taking these old bush vines and revitalizing the quality of the varietal giving it a shiny new reputation in the wine world. Rarely seen as a single varietal bottling in its home country of France, it’s making itself quite comfortable in this part of the world. (For the wine nerds out there, the original name for Cinsaut in South Africa was actually Hermitage, but that got too confusing especially when going up against the famous hill of Hermitage in the Northern Rhône. It’s also the other varietal mutated with Pinot Noir that ended up producing the South African Pinotage grape, for better or worse.)
The Twyfeling wine is a single-vineyard Cinsaut whose vines date back to the late 1960s but which mostly come from vines planted in 2003. Some of these vines are part of a nursery system the Bosman’s created to allow more of a selection massale integration for the region’s other winemakers seeking out the best vines to plant. This is a testament to the quality of vines the Bosmans have been propagating for hundreds of years.
Cinsaut when at its best is full of red crunchy fruit, cured meat, and dried herbs. Twyfeling is all of those things and more. As pretty as this wine is, it’s also got equally the same amount of power. Like an iron fist in a velvet glove. It’s also in a great place to drink now, but don’t be afraid to let this sit and chill out for a few years to allow the flavors to integrate and expand even more. If you’re looking for a food pairing: BBQ Baby Back Ribs. Or for my vegetarian friends, go with that same sweet BBQ sauce on a grilled Portabello mushroom!