Tasting Notes for Battle of Bosworth Expat Pinot Noir 2024 from the Winery

Expat is a rare beast – a 100% McLaren Vale Pinot Noir. Treated gently in the vineyard and winery, it is made like a Beaujolais – it’s a light-weight luncheon wine with red fruits and a hint of strawberries on the nose;  bright with a touch of spice.

Expat is a light and bright red wine - a classic Pinot colour. The nose is bright and pretty, with light red fruits, and these characters translate directly onto the palate. Our Pinots always seem to have a delicious perfume to them a result of both nature and nurture. The wine finishes nice and tight, with a lovely length. The gentle, silky tannins in Expat can more than handle 30 minutes in the fridge if the weather is warm. This wine goes very well with cheeses, chicken dishes and charcuterie.

Vintage

Initially 2024 was a typical warm, dry season then became wet and windy as sub-tropical weather systems pushed south in December and January before returning to a warm and dry season. It was colder than average from budburst to flowering, then windy and cold during flowering which extended this phase of grape development. We had a wet and windy December. We then had a turnaround, with a dry end of season - a few hot days in early February and then March was terrific for ripening wine grapes; warm temperatures during the day and cooler temperatures at night.

Winemaking

We have had Pinot Noir planted in our vineyards since 1987 when the young Joch Bosworth was press-ganged into helping plant the vines. Battle of Bosworth has always been a family business! There was a decent amount of Pinot Noir in McLaren Vale in the 80s and 90s, but there are only a couple of vineyards left now. Joch's parents sold the grapes to various winemakers over the years. We made our first Pinot Noir under the Battle of Bosworth in 2011, an auspicious year in many ways it was a pretty wet vintage. The aim is always to make a lighter style of Pinot Noir and to make this happen, we throw in a small amount of whole bunches into the ferment (all the other grapes are crushed after being picked), which adds perfume and texture. The Pinot is picked quite early and after fermentation goes into older oak before bottling early.

Battle of Bosworth Wines

The wines take their name from the original Battle of Bosworth, fought on Bosworth Field, Leicestershire, England in 1485. Here the last of the Plantagenet Kings, Richard the III, was slain by Henry Tudor, becoming the last king of England to die in battle. His death ended the War of the Roses. The roots of the Bosworth family’s battle were planted in the early 1840’s with their first vineyard in McLaren Vale. The modern day Battle of Bosworth saw the conversion of ‘Edgehill’ vineyard to organic viticulture by Joch Bosworth in 1995. This McLaren Vale ‘Battle of Bosworth’ is symbolised on the label by the yellow Soursob (Oxalis pes caprae) which is used in the vineyard to combat other weeds.

(SKU: BB_PN_CV)