Scarlet Runner Shiraz 2018
Tasting Notes
A cracking McLaren Vale shiraz, showing all of the characters you would expect in a medium-bodied, fruit -driven and lightly oaked style. Lovely balanced tannins and hints of red and black fruits on the nose and palate. Delicious.
Vintage
We had above average winter rainfall and although we had a dry June, we recorded decent falls in July and August. Below average rainfall was recorded in spring, and we experienced some warm spring nights. Summer rain tally was also below average despite a wet December. McLaren Vale experienced warm a warm Autumn ripening period with low rainfall. Overall vintage in McLaren Vale produced wine of excellent quality and while total tonnages were down for the season, compared to a wet and fertile 2017, the reports from winemakers on wine quality has been almost universally positive.
Winemaking
There’s nothing tricky about the way we make this wine – it’s how we’ve been making Shiraz here at Battle of Bosworth and Spring Seed Wines since we started making wine back in 2001 with the first Battle of Bosworth Shiraz. (We've been growing Shiraz since the early 1970’s, well Joch’s parents had, anyhow).
We pick the grapes according to ripeness and flavour, then bring them to the winery, crush the grapes and put them into open fermenters. Some of the grapes are fermented in older oak barrels, some in stainless steel tanks. The trick is letting the pristine McLaren Vale fruit characters shine through, and we don’t want to smother the classic regional spice and chocolate characters with too much oak. Scarlet Runner is generally bottled by the end of the year it was made in.
Other Vintages
Technical Details
Picking Date: 3rd and 6th March 2018
Alc/Vol: 14.5%
Bottling Date: 17th July 2019