Bosworth Wines Fabulous Ladies Soirée at Stem Restaurant in Adelaide
On a cold rainy night in May, Louise and 60 Adelaide women took over gorgeous Stem restaurant on Hindley Street (the nice end) and had dinner at one of Jane Thompson’s Fabulous Ladies Wine Soirées. Jane is a dynamo who runs women only events throughout the country, dragging wine folk such as myself along with her. She is a terrific operator and endlessly enthusiastic about wine, life, food, horses, hockey; everything in fact.
As ever, it was a stellar evening, great fun; old friends caught up with and new ones made. The food was super, too so if you are in Adelaide and venturing out, go and try it. Great service, and a good wine list too. The 2021 little island red (Shiraz) was a favourite.
Halliday Wine Companion 2023
Talking of the little island red, this wine had a terrific review in Halliday’s most recent Wine Companion, the 2023 edition. This wine is available for tasting and sales on the island (and if you ask nicely, at our Battle of Bosworth and Spring Seed Wine Co cellar door too!) This wine is our second newest wine out of Kangaroo Island and is a delicious fresh, bright juicy Shiraz.
Woody on Kangaroo Island
While we are talking about the little island red, we found this photo of Woody hand picking some of the Shiraz from Kate’s Block (named after Kate Williams who owned the vineyard previously and who very probably planted this vineyard by hand alongside Roger her husband ) and A Block back in 2021. Woody was on the island with Joch picking grapes with the truck in February 2021.
We actually make all of our KI wines back on the mainland at Bosworth HQ. Woody is picking a small amount of Shiraz which we threw into the ferment without crushing it first, AKA ‘whole bunch’. We add about 10% of whole bunch Shiraz to the ferment to add some ‘whole bunch funk’. Just a little, not too much. Adding whole bunches into the ferment is like seasoning a dish – do it sparingly, and with a judicious hand.
Wild and Woolly
We have had a super amount of winter rain on the island, with a little bit of flooding at the top near cellar door, and plenty of water into the dam which is awesome. It’s been cold though, evidenced by the sausage dog. Emma brought in a ruggie for Tigger at the BoB cellar door, and Oscar was even allowed on the bed when Louise was over on the island working cellar door. Brrrr. It’s been a long cold and wet winter in McLaren Vale, too. Spring is looking to continue to be wet, too, which has been forecast by weather mob, AKA the Bureau of Meteorology, or BOM. Year 3 of El Nino.
Winter grass on KI grows almost luminous green. We use the sheep in the vineyard (also seen here mowing the house block) to keep the grass down and eat any weeds that may appear. The trick with using sheep as weed control (as we manage the KI property using our tried and trusted organic methods that Joch developed in McLaren Vale over the last 27 years) is that as soon as the buds burst on the vines in spring, you have to get the little bleaters OUT of the vineyard, otherwise they will eat the new shoots and buds as well as the grass.
2022 little island rose New Wine out of Springs Road
Another new wine, this time a blend of our two favourite regions – Kangaroo Island and McLaren Vale. We love dry Rosé here at Battle of Bosworth Wines and Springs Road. The new little island rosé is a bright fresh style (with a beautiful pale pink colour) with a nose of pomegranate and a whiff of watermelon and a little strawberries and cream. It’s a dry style, with lovely acidity and a crisp finish. Deeee -licious.
New Vintage of our Springs Road ‘ Terre Napoléon’ Kangaroo Island Shiraz
Terre Napoléon is a barrel selection of Joch’s favourite Shiraz from Kangaroo Island. The 2021 has just been released and it is fresh and bright and bursting with red and black fruits, but with depth and incredible length too. It is available for tasting at the Springs Road cellar door. Joch’s tasting note for this wine reads:
‘A terrific bright red/ purple, the wine is very dense in colour too, with intense red and black fruits and the merest whiff of island eucalyptus. TN is extremely well-balanced, medium-bodied with a long, plush, flavoursome palate and length.’
KI Constructions
Finally, we are planning on adding a fixed roof to the deck at Springs Road. The sail we have in place currently drips rain onto peoples heads in winter, and on windy days has been ripped off its moorings and ended up in the paddock on more than one occasion. We can’t have Bozzie up a high ladder fixing things as he gets older, either! Watch out for the new entrance feature gate at the entrance into cellar door off the Playford Highway, too. *Newsflash* as of Sunday this week (end of September) Kev the builder will be on KI making the roof happen!
