The footbolt Shiraz 2022  McLaren Vale, Shiraz (100%)  The Name  Joseph Osborn was a successful racehorse  owner and Footbolt was the pride of his  stable. In 1912 he made the hard decision to  sell his horses to purchase the d’Arenberg  property.   The Vintage  It has been a good winter, the early Spring  rains set the vines up very well. November  was about 3 degrees colder than average and  so the set was variable, especially Mauvedre  which suffered the worst. Luckily, many  varieties still had quite a large potential  crop, so yields ended about 15% down from  2021 (which was a big crop year). December  was bone dry, but January saw 33mm  compared to 20mm average. This too set  the vines up very well. There was almost no  rain and very mild conditions in February,  March and April, free of hot or cold spells  which resulted in very good leaf retention  and ripening. All varieties resulted in  outstanding wines. At this stage, It is early  to call the vintage but I believe the reds from  this vintage are the best I have seen in years.  They show great colour fruit, fruit fragrance,  richness, acidity, tannins and style. The Red  skins were very thick and crunchy and no  shrivel was seen, resulting in high tannin  content, causing us to pull juice off the skins  sweeter than usual, to achieve the desired  results.  Harvest dates  Residual sugar  25 Feb – 29 Apr  1.4 g/l  The Winemaking  Small batches of grapes are crushed gently  and then transferred to five tonne headed  down open fermenters. These batches  remain separate until final blending.  Foot treading is undertaken two thirds of  the way through fermentation.  The wine is then basket pressed and  then transferred to a mixture of new and  used French oak barriques to complete  fermentation. The barrel ferments are aged  on lees, and there is no racking until final  blending. This wine does not undertake  fining or filtration prior to bottling.  The Characteristics  Bright Medium purple.  Lifted aromas of dark cherries, black plum,  and a hint of Dutch liquorice.  Rich flavours of black plums, cherries, and  blackberries. Integrated mocha and Dutch  liquorice and black pepper fill out the palate.  Tannins are ripe, rich, and juicy with a  beautifully balanced acid line, which makes  the wine approachable now but will also  cellar for years.  A rich and balanced example of a McLaren  vale classic