It’s raining outside, the creeks are running and there’s a heap of gum trees down all over the vineyards after the storm that came through last night. It’s winter, and it’s raining, which is great. I know I am like a broken record when it comes to talking about rain (especially given my English origins – fond memories of camping in Devon when it rained non-stop for 2 weeks..) Here’s snake creek, halfway down the drive way.
We had a visit from the team from Grape and Grain who sell our wines in the west. It was pouring, so we made them look at the house and the winter creek as it ran over the gum tree bridge.
We also made them do some vineyard work – well, we made Maria do some pruning on the Road Shiraz block. We also tasted some wine in barrel from the 2019 vintage wines, as well as Joch’s single barrel of fortified Touriga – hoping to be bottled before Father’s Day, without wanting to gender stereotype or anything like that.
Joch got his photo in the US wine magazine Wine Spectator with a review of the 2017 Spring Seed ‘Forget-me-not’ Sauvignon Blanc Semillon. It got a great score (91 points) which is no surprise to us, we have been saying for years what a wonderful Bordeaux-style blend it is.
The wine is still available at cellar door or online. A tangible result of Bozzie’s mug shot appearing in the WS was a message on our Facebook page from Chris Dowsett, an old mate of Joch’s from his gap year in the USA. Chris and Joch worked together at Mondavi back in the Paleozoic era, well before Battle of Bosworth times.
Some good reviews for Battle of Bosworth and Spring Seed wines from US wine writer James Suckling and his Australian off-sider, Nick Stock. The 2017 Heretic got a great review with 92 points, as did the 2017 Bosworth Shiraz. Both the 2017 Spring Seed Cab and the 2017 Spring Seed Shiraz got 91 points each too. nice work winery people!
Winter means pruning (and rain, see above) and so we measure the passing of the seasons by the coming and going of Harley the fisherman. Harley turns land lubber in the winter months and comes and prunes the Hill Shiraz in front of cellar door, and other blocks too. Harley has shaved his beard off I noticed when i went to get my annual shot. Onya Harley!
A final wildlife update – Woody from the winery sent me a video of a kestrel in the barrel hall. Woody reckoned it was escaping the storm that was brewing, I reckon it loves a drop of red. Video not good enough to post sadly, but as an old twitcher myself it was awesome to see.
A final bit of showing off from the James Suckling Australian wine reviews was for our island wines, and specifically the Springs Road 2017 Shiraz – a whopping 95 points! If you are interested this wine is available (and the other SR KI wines) for the moment on the Battle of Bosworth/ Spring Seed online shop until our new you beauty shop is up and running. Click here to buy all of our wines!.