We had a very wet winter (between June and September) and a cool wet spring, which tested the mettle of our in-house viticulturist/ vigneron, AKA Joch. As a result of these trying conditions, vintage started later than in previous years (we picked Chardonnay on the 15th February in #v2023) and we had much smaller volumes than in 2022 or 2021. We had a few warm days in January and February and picked the whites quite quickly, then about 10mm of rain in early March which settled the dust and stopped picking for a little while. Despite the smaller vintage, the quality of grapes was excellent across both red and white varieties.

We have had Pinot Noir planted in our vineyards since 1987 when the young Joch Bosworth was press-ganged into helping plant the vines. Battle of Bosworth has always been a family business!  There was a decent amount of Pinot Noir in McLaren Vale in the 80’s and 90’s, but zthere are only a couple of vineyards left now. Joch’s parents sold the grapes to various winemakers over the years. We made our first Pinot Noir under the Battle of Bosworth in 2011, an auspicious year in many ways – it was a pretty wet vintage.

The aim is always to make a lighter style of Pinot Noir and to make this happen, we throw in a small amount of whole bunches into the ferment (all the other grapes are crushed after being picked), which adds perfume and texture. The Pinot is picked quite early and after fermentation goes into older oak before bottling early.

• The Wine Front

   

  I’m known to be something of an aficionado of Pinot Noir from places where it probably shouldn’t be grown. In part, this is because they taste different and offer an alternative expression of the grape variety, and in part, because I’m a strange cat.

  Red fruit, rhubarb, iodine/tar, a little cedar, orange peel too. It’s medium-bodied, has a light dusty tannin grip, some distinct amaro flavours here, again with that blood orange and dried herb, with a dry finish of solid length. It’s a curious wine, but I like it. Point of difference is a positive.

  90 Points

  Gary Walsh

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