d'Arenberg The Originals Footbolt Shiraz 2021 x 12

d'Arenberg The Originals Footbolt Shiraz 2021 x 12The 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 dArenberg 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.

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