This past Africa Day (25 May), Bosman Family Vineyards turned its focus on the new direction the continent is taking to embrace our climate and our culture. Many wine producers are planting grape cultivars more suited to our conditions than the traditional French and German varieties brought to our continent by European colonialists.
Bosman Nero is the first and only wine to be made in South Africa from the Sicilian red grape varietal called Nero d’ Avola, but we like to call it Nero d’Africa because it feels right at home in this terroir.
In 2004 when the phrase “climate change” began to rear its worrying head, Petrus Bosman decided to do something about it. While scientists, agriculturists and meteorologists were still pontificating on the effects of Climate Change, Bosman went in search of a grape cultivar that could withstand the hotter, dryer climate conditions predicted for their Wellington farm.
The volcanic island of Sicily seemed to have comparative terroir to the weathered granite soils and searing summer temperatures of their farm. So, he hopped on a plane and spent a harvest there, picking grapes, making wine and consulting the oenologists at the University of Palermo.
There he discovered the grape cultivar Nero d’Avola, planted prolifically it consistently produced rich, bold wines. So, he brought back 50 cuttings with the aim of propagating vines in the Bosman Adama Vine Nursery.
Only two cuttings survived the journey, but still determined, the Bosmans were eventually able to plant a vineyard a few years later and made their first Nero d’Avola wine in 2013.
Being a totally new variety in our landscape, authorities insisted the wine was bottled simply as Dry Red, because there were no reference points for this one-of-a-kind wine.
But it didn’t take long for the wine to gain accreditation with the following vintage, and the Bosman Nero fast gained notoriety. It is a wine that is designed to inspire a sustainable legacy through its quality. With mellifluous aromas of dark fruit, predominantly blackberry, plum, and black cherries, the wine is balanced by subtle hints of vanilla and allspice.
To celebrate the 10 th harvest of this wine, the Bosmans released a Nero Rosé in 2024. This jewel-like wine, the colour of an African dawn, is the perfect partner to its big, bold cellar partner Nero Red with its delicate strawberries-and-cream aromas and silky elegance.
We celebrate this unique and tenacious, one-of-a-kind black grape with a celebrity harvest each year when partner Thapelo Mokoena, an actor and producer, invites his besties for a day out in the vineyards. Kicking off their heels and arming themselves with secateurs, they venture into the vineyard and fill their baskets with luscious bunches of Nero grapes. Once back at the cellar, some even trampled them underfoot to kickstart the winemaking process.
Mokoena takes care of marketing both the Nero Red and the Nero Rosé in Gauteng, where the story of African resilience resonates well.
On Africa Day, we are reminded to celebrate all that is uniquely African, while ‘ubuntu’ requires us to be both creative and pioneering as we move collectively forward into a future that empowers a wider circle.
The Latin phrase “ex Africa semper aliquid novi,” attributed to Pliny the Elder in the 1st century, translates as “Out of Africa, always something new.” While he was probably referring to the awe-inspiring wild animals that roamed the African plains, today we can celebrate our uniquely African ingenuity and determination to thrive through innovation, dynamic artistic expression and a dedication to better.