Shiraz bottle image
Shiraz bottle image

Shiraz 2016

Tasting Notes

Lovely oak, not too much, ripe red and black fruits, not too ripe, spice and toasty char characters, not too overwhelming. The result is a wonderful, balanced MV shiraz with richness, flavour and texture.

Vegan friendly

We had a very dry spring leading up to vintage 2016 and it was windy, too. We expect windy conditions in Willunga, but this was pretty intense. October and December were both pretty warm, whereas November was mild. Very healthy crops were recorded across all varieties in McLaren Vale. We had a huge downpour at the end of January a few days before the whites were due to be picked; this kind of weather event tends to give Joch a sense of tightening around the left chest area, neck and sometimes down the arm. However, this 50mm downpour succeeded in refreshing the vines, giving us a few more days before picking and bringing the lawns back from the brink. February was mild with cool nights and March provided pretty good picking conditions, give or take a few warm days.

We have been making this wine now for some time; this is the 16th version of the Bozzie Shiraz, in fact. Nothing much has changed in the way we make it in the intervening years. We might use a little less oak now, or Joch may have found a new favourite cooper, but in essence we have been holding our course for some while now. No point in change for change’s sake is there. I sound like an old man don’t I? The proof of the pudding is in the eating however. The Bosworth Shiraz is a ripper. For detail fiends, this is how we make the wine;

We pick the grapes when they are sugar and flavour ripe, crush and then ferment them in small open vessels. We drain off the fermenting juice and pump it over the ‘cap’ of grape skins 3 times a day which helps add colour, flavour and tannins to the wine. The wine then finishes ferment in barrel, of various shapes, sizes and ages. The main emphasis is French oak barrels, but there is always a couple of new American ones too. We also use a small component of cordon-cut, vine dried Shiraz (which is used to make the ‘White Boar’), which we add to the blend just before bottling. We have done this ever since we started making the BoB Shiraz. We find it adds a lovely spiciness and intrigue to the wine.

Technical Details

Vineyards: 'The Hill', Braden's and Chanticleer

Picking Date: 11th-24th February 2018

Alc/Vol: 14.5%