Fox Gordon | Adelaide Hills
Fox Gordon began over a long lunch in 2001 when renowned winemaker Tash Mooney and her old friends and colleagues Sam Atkins and David Cumming and their wives Ra Atkins (née Fox) and Jane Gordon decided to realise a long held dream to form a family run company and make great wine together from two of the finest regions in South Australia – the Barossa Valley and the Adelaide Hills.
Winemaker Tash Mooney trained at Roseworthy and went on to work with Penfolds, Lindemans and Barossa Valley Estate (BVE). It was at BVE where she made the iconic E&E Black Pepper Shiraz vintages that won acclaim as the best red and best wine at the International Wine Challenge and became only the second Australian wine to earn a place in the influential Wine Spectator magazine’s top 10 wines.
At Fox Gordon Tash aims to make contemporary, premium wine that stands amongst the best both nationally and internationally. Forging strong, trusting business relationships with grape growers has enabled this. Tash has a hands off approach and is happy to allow the growers to do what they do best. “Then I do what I do best,” she says. “It is a trusting situation and defines the growers I choose to work with.” The grower’s vineyards are located in the Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills, with fruit purity being the order of the day. “If the fruit speaks for itself, the winemaker’s job is much simpler,” states Tash.
The prevailing Fox Gordon philosophy is one of low input and low yield to give maximum flavour and preserve the inherent qualities of fruit and site; clearly a philosophy that has paid off as the considerable number of awards and trophies the estate has accumulated over the years will testify.