James Borland, beverage guru from the Taj Hotel, summed up the Bosman Fairtrade Cabernet 2011 called De Bos, launched yesterday at The Potluck Club in the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock as “a young princess.” I was in a princess sandwich between De Bos winemaker Corlea Fourie (below) on my right and FairtradeSA’s Arianna Baldo (below Corlea). Very rarely have the situational variables been so royal! I felt like Prince Harry, even if I was wearing clothes.

What made the red a princess wine for me were those feminine Bovlei flavours of blueberries and blackberries that “scientists from the University of Illinois have found… contain high levels of beneficial bioactive components that were almost as effective as the anti-diabetes drug Acarbose” according to The Drinks Business. No macho tomato leaf or tomato paste that prevails in Stellenbosch where the mountainous character of the Helderberg is mixed with the maritime influence of False Bay. Wellington wines are pure mountain and you can taste it – there are (usually) no vegetative seafaring notes.

So not only does the wine soothe the soul, being a Fairtrade product (Wieta but better), its also healthier for you. No wonder host Petrus Bosman (below) is smiling. What a pity Fairtrade will not feature at the controversial Cape Wine 2012 exposition next month, especially when you note that SA is the largest Fairtrade wine producer in the world. As Petrus noted “the Fairtrade brand is larger than brand SA overseas” so surely Harriet Lamb should be invited?

But then Fairtrade had to find out about the industry’s own controversial Wieta project through the media. Incredible! Huge synergies between two certification activities demands consultation. The R1.5 million that WOSA gifted Wieta this year was clearly not used on communication. Mismanagement is costing SA wine millions and the loss of opportunities is downright criminal.