Battle of Bosworth McLaren Vale
Battle of Bosworth was established in 2001 by Joch Bosworth and Louise Hemsley-Smith. The wines take their name from the original Battle of Bosworth, fought on Bosworth Field, Leicestershire, England in 1485. The roots of the Bosworth family’s battle were planted in the early 1850’s with their first vineyard in McLaren Vale. The modern day Battle of Bosworth saw the conversion of ‘Edgehill’ vineyard to organic viticulture by Joch Bosworth in 1995.
Joch and Louise have been growing their grapes organically for 21 years this year. Joch's vision saw him convert 24 acres of vines to organic viticulture in 1995. In 1999 they gained their
organic certification from ACO P/L (Australian Certified Organic). This process represented a big leap of faith in many regards, not least because in those days 'organic' was not the buzzword it is today. Their vineyards were the first in McLaren Vale to achieve organic certification, too, and they were the very first winery to release an organic wine. Hats off, Joch.
WINEMAKING
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it….this saying really gives me the pip but in reality it holds very true for how we make this wine; we use old tried and true wine making techniques year in and year out. We pick the Cabernet when it is flavour and sugar ripe, then crush it and ferment it in small open vessels. Fermentation finishes in barrel; we use mainly old oak (about 70%) and the balance in new mainly French hogsheads (300l) barrels. We blend back some of our cordon cut, vine dried Cabernet to the wine just prior to bottling, a practise we have undertaken since we began making the wine. That’s it.
TASTING NOTES
The Boz Cab has red/ black fruits on the nose, so think redcurrants blackberries and blackcurrants. There is a freshness which verges on mint. Overall the wine is lively and medium-bodied and very fresh. It has a structured but accessible palate and for those that have patience it will cellar very well, but if you haven’t got time for all that waiting, it will drink well now. Decanting before drinking would be a good idea to give the wine some air and give it time to release all of those aromas.
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