By James Wells
An international jury has judged the as yet unreleased 2013 Fox Creek Reserve Shiraz as Best of Show at the recent ProWein exhibition in Düsseldorf.
The Best of Show award for an Australian red wine, presented by wine publication Mundus Vini, has been compared by the winery to the prestigious Langton's Classification for Excellence and is further recognition for the Fox Creek Reserve Shiraz which has won 14 trophies and 55 gold medals since 2004.
Fox Creek senior winemaker, Scott Zrna, said the awards are a "testimony to the quality of the 2013 Reserve made from small parcels of McLaren Vale's oldest vines and highest quality fruit.
"As custodian for the Fox Creek Reserve Shiraz, I am immensely proud of the international recognition we have received for our Reserve Shiraz over the last 10 years. A success that continues with the ultimate accolade of Best of Show Red at the prestigious Grand International Wine Awards Mundus Vini spring tasting," Zrna said.
Another recently released wine in the portfolio, the 2013 Fox Creek Postmaster Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre was also recognised by Mundus Vini with a Grand Gold.
Named after the inaugural postmaster in the McLaren Vale and the first landowner of Fox Creek Wines – Henry Malpas, the Postmaster GSM is sourced from 80-year-old Grenache vines, 60-year-old Shiraz vines and 11-year-old Mouvedre vines and builds on the platform developed by the JSM and completes the Custodian series of blends which offer a Grenache-dominant, Shiraz-dominant and Cabernet-dominant wines. There are further developments expected in the Custodian range later this year
According to Fox Creek national sales and export manager, James Carman, ProWein was a valuable experience and once again provided the opportunity to meet with existing distribution partners and new distribution partners. Carman said he is looking to grow the business into Poland, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
"The Australian dollar falling is certainly helping us out and has delivered a bit of an Australian wine resurgence. We are starting to feel some hype around Australian wine again after quite a lull. Premium wine is certainly the future there is no doubt about it, but there is also potential in the mid-tier category as well," Carman said.