We had good spring rains but lower summer rainfall than we usually receive in McLaren Vale. As a result of this dry growing period, disease pressure was low (no mildews!) although we had a couple of heat spikes in late January and some hot days in February which resulted in reduced crops compared to 2018 (down by up to 30% depending on variety).  We started picking the reds at the beginning of March and was largely all over by the end of the month. Quality is terrific.

The Battle of Bosworth Shiraz is a crowd pleaser – not too much oak, not too heavily extracted, not too alcoholic. Just a wonderful medium bodied representation of McLaren Vale’s most widely planted variety. How can we keep making such a wonderful expressive Shiraz, year in and year out, with the variables we have to encounter (i. e. The Weather). Joch must be a genius!

Not a bit of it – it’s a recipe, a formula if you like, that we have honed over the years (this wine is the 19^th vintage of Shiraz we have made under the organic BoB label). We pretty much do the same thing year in, year out – what a lack of imagination, you might think. Simple, traditional and repetitive. But very effective.

First, we pick the grapes on flavour and sugar ripeness, then crush them and then ferment in small open vessels. During fermentation we pump the juice over the ‘cap’ of skins 3 times a day. Pump overs help obtain maximum flavour and colour from the grapes. The wine finishes fermenting in barrel; we use a combination of new and old French and American oak. We also blend a small percentage of cordon cut, vine dried Shiraz to the wine prior to bottling. It really is that simple. Joch, genius? No.

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