Battle of Bosworth opens in KI

Katie Spain, SA Weekend

January 11, 2019 5:17pm

I’ll never forget my family’s first trip to Kangaroo Island. We stayed in a humble farmhouse near American River, plucked marron from a nearby dam and spent hours on pristine beaches. My mum (an abandoned joey rearer from way back) made Dad pull the car up next to every dead roo we passed to check the pouch for young ones. It was thirsty work.

Luckily, the wine offering on Australia’s third largest island is on the rise. Second generation McLaren Vale winemaker Joch Bosworth and his wife Louise Hemsley-Smith (the pair behind the Vale’s Battle of Bosworth Wines) opened their new Springs Road Wines cellar door on December 18. It’s located 10 minutes out of Kingscote and offers tastings of their Springs Road Wines brand.

It’s a beautiful spot.

The cellar door, built by McLaren Vale’s K and J Barker Construction, looks out over Nepean Bay and the Spring Road vineyard was originally planted by well-known locals, Roger and Kate Williams. The property is stocked with Roger’s sheep (say hi to him when you visit Roger’s Deli in Kingscote).

Juggling two cellar doors on opposite sides of the deep blue sea is no mean feat and Joch admits their KI chapter was somewhat serendipitous. When vintage 2016 drew to a close he took his Battle of Bosworth crew on a magical mystery tour of the island. While grocery shopping in Kingscote, he paused in front of the local real estate agent and saw the vineyard up for sale. The rest is history.

Their first KI vintage was 2017 and the offering now includes the 2018 Springs Road Kangaroo Island Chardonnay ($35), 2017 Springs Road Kangaroo Island Shiraz Cabernet ($35), 2017 Springs Road Kangaroo Island Shiraz ($40) and 2017 Springs Road Kangaroo Island Cabernet Sauvignon ($40). A small bottling of the top notch shiraz will fall under the ‘Terre Napoléon’ label.

Joch and Louise like to keep things certified organic and local. KI is certified GMO-free and Springs Road is undergoing conversion to certified organic viticulture. The environment provides a unique combination of relatively low rainfall, low soil fertility and a moderate maritime climate (thanks to those cool sea breezes), which results in low yielding vines that produce vibrant, intensely flavoured wines.

All good news for KI and its visitors, eh Skip?