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Balgownie are one of our nation's great small vineyards, pioneers of the reprise in Bendigo viticulture, with the foresight to establish vines in 1969, the first local plantings in over eighty years. Grown to terrains very near the tailings of Victoria's original gold rush, the auspicious Balgownie vines yield discreet yet exquisite harvests of the most edifying and undervalued Victorian vintages. A bespoke favourite amongst enthusiasts of the old school style in elegant and finely boned Aussie Shiraz, Balgownie represent the essential accompaniment to meaty eggplant inspired recipes, or a princely roast of lamb, the best of.. Balgownie begets the best of bendigo»
There are but two winemakers who can lay claim to a staggering four Jimmy Watson Trophy victories. Wolf Blass was the man behind the label. John Glaetzer was the man behind Wolf Blass. While working for Wolf, Glaetzer was moonlighting on his own brand, applying the same extravagance of technique to the pick of Langhorne Creek fruit. Perfection in the form of black bramble fruit, muscular yet affable tannins, all framed by the luxury of ebony oak. Aspirants of the great Black Blass Label fables of 1974, 1975 and 1976, are privately advised to avail themselves of John's Blend, Cabernet or Shiraz. Crafted from the same parcels, in the same way, by the same hands,.. Timeless mystique of langhorne creek»
Jack Mann reigns eternal as the greatest winemaker in the history of the Australian west. Jack Mann's son Tony grew up amongst the vineyards of Houghton but took a keener interest in things Cricket. He exelled at both pursuits but is best remembered as the legendary leg spinner Tony Rocket Mann. During his off seasons away from the pitch, Tony would plant parcels of vine alongside his illustruious father Jack and his own young son Robert. The fully grown Robert now makes his own wine, from fruit of the very vines sown by Jack and Tony Mann. Robert learned from his grandfather that great winemaking required a spiritual oneness with nature. The birds and the.. Whence the west was won»
Returned servicemen from the Great War could look forward to government grants of pastoral freehold. West Australia's Willyabrup Valley was such a place, just a short walk from the balmy beaches of Indian Ocean, it offered the veterans excellent potential for agriculture. The fertile lands of Sussex Vale were originally established to animal husbandry by the discharged troopers, generations of livestock enriched the soils and it was astutely sown to vines in 1973. Fortuitously placed at the very heart of the Australian west's most illustrious estates, it continued to occupy the thoughts of neighbouring Howard Park's chief winemaker, until he acquired the.. A better block on hay shed hill»

Fox Creek Red Baron Shiraz CONFIRM VINTAGE

Shiraz McLaren Vale South Australia
The Baron is back, gladly exchanging his bright red triplane for a bottle or two of good red wine. This suave Shiraz is crafted from some of the best Fox Creek estate grown fruit, much in the same way as the eponymous flying ace took out his pick of prey in the skies over France. A smooth, satisfying effort by one of Mclaren Vale's baronial winemaking estates, rich in character, distinctive in style and silky in texture, guaranteed to charm and to captivate. Introduce the Baron to barbequed scotch fillets or a potato crusted meatball pie.
Available by the dozen
Case of 12
$251.00
Fox Creek's vineyards are hand pruned to control vigor, maintaining cropping levels quite low to yield small berries full of concentrated flavour and colour. Native flora and fauna are encouraged as they are excellent pest control and deter parasites. The winemakers sample the grapes regularly to determine optimum picking time as judged by flavour development and baume. Grapes are delivered promptly to the winery. Each batch is open fermented for seven to eight days on skins with low intensity pumpovers conducted to preserve primary fruit flavours. The wine is pressed off to finish fermentation and maturation, mostly in a selection of older French and American oak barrels.
Vibrant purple. Intense aromas of mulberry, blackberries, plum and cherries, interwoven with nutmeg, cinnamon and clove. Fresh juicy red berries, plums and black cherries lead into a vanilla custard mid palate with hints of toast, coffee and mocha. The youthful tannins complete the experience with an injection of fresh toasty oak on the finish. The perfect accompaniment to richly sauced meats.
Fox Creek
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Fox Creek
It all began when a group of medicos decided to realize a lifelong passion - creating a wine from bare earth and sunshine

In the past years since Fox Creek was established, many of the Fox Creek wines have been recognized by being awarded both Trophies and Gold Medals from National and Regional Wine Shows. The McLaren Vale Region has a Mediterranean style climate with a strong maritime influence and is frost-free as we are 7km from the sea. Annual Rainfall is 600-700mm falling mainly in Winter. It is an ideal location for growing grapes, with little disease pressure.

Fox Creek

Fox Creek has three company vineyards or approximately 60 hectares of vines. The vineyards are within a range of 5 kilometres, near the village of Willunga. "On our vineyards we grow most common grape varieties. The red varieties are our specialty, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The white varieties grown are Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Verdelho and Semillon.

"Fox Creek has always protected and enhanced the areas surrounding the vineyards with plantings of indigenous native trees. These provide habitat, food and shelter for native birds. Our focus is to be environmentally friendly and only use sustainable practices if possible. We strive to minimise the use of any chemical or other artificial agents."

There are many different soil types at the estate vineyards. About one half are black cracking clays full of organic matter which can develop deep cracks in summer. The rest are red sandy loams with rocks right through their profile. These soils are well drained and aerated.

Fox Creek

Fox Creek manage the vineyard floor with a mix of cover cropping and permanent swards. Mulching the under-vine area is also carried out to improve the structure, fertility and microbiological diversity in soil. Cultivation is kept to a bare minimum to conserve soil structure. The vineyard layout and trellis systems have been designed to best suit the specific needs of individual varieties.

Most of the Shiraz is grown on a trellis system called Scott-Henry, and the vines are trained to two cordons. The shoots from the top cordon are lifted by a set of foliage wires while the bottom cordon shoots are down-turned. This system helps control the natural vigour of Shiraz while allowing maximum sunlight penetration and ventilation of the canopy. Most white varieties are grown on a Vertically Shoot Positioned trellis. This gives excellent fruit exposure and ventilation to reduce disease pressure, but enough shading to prevent sunburn damage to the bunches.

With the use of weather stations and continuous monitoring of soil moisture, stress can be minimalized in critical periods such as the time of flowering, controlled stress is utilized to dictate shoot size after fruitset. The outcome of this careful management is to make the most efficient use of limited underground water supplies. All the estate vineyards have drip irrigation, with the exception of one premiere dry-grown Shiraz vineyard.

"All of our vineyards are hand pruned to control vigour. Hand pruning also controls cropping levels which are kept quite low, enabling us to produce small berries full of concentrated flavour and colour. Vintage time is always hectic!" The winemakers sample the grapes regularly to determine the optimum picking time as judged by flavour development and baum (sugar levels).

Fox Creek