Erfenis: a Bosman Blend

When it comes to blends, Bordeaux makes all the running with its mixtures of the big five red grapes Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. The Bosman family (Petrus is shown below) have farmed on Lelienfontein on the Groenberg of Wellington for eight generations.

Lelienfontein was originally granted to a French Huguenot, Philip de Royan, back in 1699 by the then Governor of the Cape, Willem Adriaan van der Stel, the Kenny Kunene of his day. I wonder if the Royan’s were behind the naming of the cowboy town Roy in Utah, birth place of L’Wren Scott, the beautiful 6ft 3in fashion designer and girlfriend of Mick Jagger who tragically hanged herself with a black silk scarf back in March.

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You’d think that if you were making a wine called Inheritance, a spaghetti western name if ever there was one, you’d follow the recipe books and use those same five grapes. Not a moer. The Erfenis 2011 is a light and exciting blend of the boere big five with a touch of Louis L’Amour trail dust thrown in for texture: Pinotage, Cinsaut, Shiraz, Cabernet Franc and Merlot in the proportions 32:19:19:15:15.

Pinotage is an obvious call as it’s the red calling card of SA and blows a lekker raspberry in the general direction of arrogant UK bloggers and other prejudiced Pinotage haters on the Wall Street Journal and New Statesman. But its the Cinsaut component that blows up my spittoon. Cinsaut is the overlooked jewel in the SA vinous crown, stupidly grubbed up in the 1980s and 1990s on the advice of hairy “consultants” who give farmers expensive advice and invariably, get it wrong. Remember those brilliant Dry Reds from Rustenberg made by Etienne le Riche? Where are they now?

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Cinsaut is at long last making a comeback in the Cape – the Comback Kid, if you like – and it provides luscious approachability to this wine. Shiraz supplies slippery tannins and Franc a fragrant bouquet while Merlot makes it appeal to Americans and tightens up the tannins. This is a true Cape Blend, so watch out for future ABSA glory. A stunna of character and finesse, an inheritance for the Bosman family to be truly proud of.