Fox Creek Wines

THE STORY

Fox Creek has a passionate winemaking history based on a standard of excellence strived for in every drop that bears our name. It’s a life-long passion that dates back to 1984 when Helen and Dr. Jim Watts purchased a 32 hectare McLaren Vale. At first, their grapes were sold to other wineries in McLaren Vale, until the excellent 1994 award-winning wine, now Reserve Shiraz, was feted as McLaren Vale’s Wine of the Year in 1995; they decided to start the brand, by inspiration from the winery’s winter creek and its resident foxes.

In 2020, the winery was taken over by Ben Gibson, Jock Harvey and Dim Georgiadis who have vast experience in the wine industry and vineyard management. The three mates shared the love of high-quality Shiraz and would pool their collective experience to embark on the next journey for the estate.

THE WINEMAKING

The on-site 1,200 tone, state of the art winery with modern equipment means that every winemaking operation is performed to the highest standard. An array of stainless steel open fermenters support high quality, small bath oriented production, in line with company’s “boutique” winemaking approach.

The winery has developed individual oak programs that best suit each wine style and selected specific barrels at each stage of fermentation and maturation to emphasize the wine’s varietal characteristics and the terroir.

Stocked with over 1,800 French and American oak barrels, including 34 different types of barrels, sourced from 14 different cooperages the selection is a targeted mix of Hogsheads, Barriques and Puncheons aimed at matching and intricate needs of each vineyards block. All barrels are seasoned for 3 years prior to use and matured for approximately 21 months in a combination of new and one-year-old oak barrels.

Fox Creek Wines produces powerful wines with fine structure and soft tannins with rich fruit driven and full flavored McLaren Vale wine style.