2023 d'Arenberg The Feral Fox Pinot Noir, Adelaide Hills

Local foxes have apparently developed a liking for Chester Osborn’s prized Pinot Noir grapes and so he gave them a spot on the label. Not sure he’d be quite so keen to give them his grapes. Around 15% of whole bunches are incorporated in the fermentation and maturation is in older French oak barriques. Pale crimson/red in colour, spices, herbs, leaf litter, red fruits, cherries, smoked meats and raspberries are all found on the nose. The wine is of medium length, though it does fade a smidge quicker than one might wish. Hopefully time will rectify that. It is a thoroughly attractive Pinot, a little simple at this stage but most enjoyable. Drink over the next three to five years. Drink to 2030.

91 points Ken Gargett for Wine Pilot, November 2025

A rustle of autumn leaves, a snapping of dry twigs, a walk through a country lane lined with deciduous trees, no foxes in sight. Sour cherry, rhubarb, hardy herbs, mulch. With air, the fruit sweetens and lifts, yet the palate remains tautly pitched, acidity and cool tannins tensioning springs, wound a little too tight for now, though time will likely ameliorate. Drink to 2029.

89 points Marcus Ellis for Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026

The Feral Fox is named after the bushy tail critters that inhabit the Adelaide Hills and have apparently developed an appetite for grapes, eating low hanging bunches as the grapes start maturing.

The fruit was crushed into open two-tonne fermenters with 15% included as whole bunches. Having enjoyed a three-day cold soak, the ferments started on their own with indigenous yeasts and were foot trodden regularly before the wine was basket pressed into seasoned French oak barriques to complete primary and malolactic fermentation. No racking took place during the twelve-months the wine spent in oak, and the blended wine was not fined or filtered as it was prepared for bottling.

About this producer

The 1912 established d'Arenberg remains a family business, with fourth-generation Chester Osborn crafting bold, characterful wine with winemaker Jack Walton that continuing the family legacy of pushing the boundaries of the region.

The estate vineyards are substantial, with the family owning or leasing roughly 200 hectares in McLaren Vale, in addition to sourcing grapes from contract growers in the Adelaide Hils and the Fleurieu. Their own vineyards are certified organic and biodynamic, making family one of the largest biodynamic farmers in Australia.

The range of wines on offer is notable, with the winery vinifying nearly forty varieties in most seasons. The work at the winery remains highly traditional and labour-intensive despite their large scale, with all white and red wines pressed with gentle basket presses, and the red ferments foot-trodden by cellar hands in the original open concrete fermenters. The red wines are bottled without fining or filtration.