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Shadow keeps a watchful eye on activities at Fox Creek!
In keeping with the social networking trends, Fox Creek can now be found on both Qwoff and Booze Monkey. These two sites are dedicated to social networking for lovers of Australian & New Zealand wine, enabling users to chat, make friends, join groups, write blogs, look at photos and videos, etc - not to mention all the information available on various wineries. Pop in and have a look - who knows you might make some wine friends.
Thank you to all that entered the Shadow's Facebook Competition. Not only did we generate some more friends for Shadow but we heard some great stories about other dogs.
The entries we had were all quite different so it was quite hard to choose two winners but after much deliberation and an office vote the winning stories were decided.
1st prize of two cases of Shadow’s run wines (white and red) goes to Meg Rohan whose working dog constantly provides her with protection.
Phil Latz's well travelled friend won him 2nd prize of one mixed case of Shadow’s run wines.
Even though the competition has closed we would still love to hear all your stories.
Winning entry
“My Gandalf is a working dog, like Shadow was. He even looks just a bit like Shadow. Gandalf's job is to look after me. He has been trained to tell me about all the sounds around me, a necessary thing since I lost most of my hearing a while ago. He also trained himself to do something else--he knows if I am about to have an attack of vertigo, and he tells me about it. He herds me, nudges me and generally tries to get me to GO TO BED NOW. I ignored him once, and spent three weeks in a very sorry state. Gandalf never left my side. Recently I woke up with his warm fuzzy body wedged next to me. When I opened my eyes, the room was spinning. I got the message and didn't move again until Gandalf unwedged himself. He is a true friend and protector.” Meg Rohan
Second Prize
“The gold exploration company I serviced with my 3 passenger chopper in the jungle covered mountains behind Suva, Fiji, had spread its area of operation. Some days I visited numerous helipads on their lease. The camp dog, a friendly imported creature, often followed the workers. One day I dropped into an outstation helipad to collect a geologist-both he & the dog got in. `Don’t worry, I’ll hold Taffy’s collar.’ After takeoff I turned my head & saw Taffy sitting quietly on the floor, unrestrained. I’m sure he attempted a smile to reassure me that he would behave. After that flight Taffy often travelled with me, sometimes the only passenger, using the helicopter as his personal transport. He often waited for me at outstation pads & when I opened the door, jumped in & behaved like a perfect mute passenger. Sometimes he politely declined to get off for several stops before leaving me to pursue his doggy interests. He never put a paw wrong.” Phil Latz
If you would like to read some of the other stories, check out Shadow's Round Up on Facebook.
We here at Fox Creek are missing our furry ambassador and namesake of our wine Shadow’s run. Shadow’s facebook group is growing but we want to boost the number of members to help keep his memory alive so, we thought we would run a competition for those of you who love dogs.
THE COMPETITION DETAILS
Competition opens – 8th May 2009
How to enter – Post your most memorable four legged tale (dog only) on Shadow’s Round Up. Please limit your tale to 150 words. The tale can be happy, sad or just plain stupid – it is up to you. You are welcome to upload images but this is not a competition requirement. Limit of three stories per person.
Winning entries – The winners will be judged by the staff at Fox Creek Wines.
Prize – First prize will be one case of Shadow’s white and one case of Shadow’s red and Second Prize will be a mixed case of both.
Competition Closes – 1st July 2009.
Winners notified shortly afterwards.
Fox Creek has a fun new short film called 'Welcome to Fox Manor' on You Tube.
This film was made as part of a partnership between Austrade and the Media Resource Centre in Adelaide. This initiative partnered emerging film makers with a dozen South Australian businesses who export their product. Fox Creek made their film with Sam King and Dario Russo from Reasonable Media.
We like to have fun at Fox Creek although we take the making of our wine very seriously.
Shadow, Fox Creek’s well loved resident border collie, is a little tired of his wines always getting the attention in the press. Not content with his recent stint on “Talk to the Animals” broadcast on Channel 9 on the 5th April 2008, we have created a ‘group’ on the social networking website Facebook to let Shadow know just how popular he really is.
So, Shadow is now officially rounding up his friends – both animal and human.
To support Shadow and make him feel loved, log onto www.facebook.com, select ‘group’ from the left hand column, type in ‘Shadow’s Round Up’ in the search field, click on the appropriate result and join the group. Please note that you will need to sign up as a member if you are not already one.
You can upload pictures of you enjoying his wines or your look-a-like dogs...whatever you wish. We will keep you up to date on all of Shadow’s various activities. This is Shadow's space.
Thank you to those who entered the caption competition in our last newsletter and congratulations to wine club member Chris Richards who came up with the winning caption “What? Share this? Tell ‘em they're dreaming!”. Chris wins a case of Vixen which he will be pleased to know he doesn’t have to share.
Congratulations also to runners-up Christopher Dawson with “I'd swap the castle for a carton of Vixen” and Janice Matthews with “So you would recommend this to go with a curry” who both received a bottle of Vixen.
Thank you to everyone who waxed lyrical about Fox Creek and our wines. There were lots of terrific entries so look out for a few of them in upcoming newsletters. We enlisted the help of our vineyard bard, John McLarty and some other Fox Creek staff to help choose the winners. Congratulations to the following prize winners.
Joy Orosz won 1st PRIZE of Magnum of Reserve Shiraz
There once was a Fox Creek Verdelho,
That helped me impress my new fellow,
With vanilla and lime,
We wasted no time,
Getting comfy, contented and mellow!
Carol Kasperski won 2nd Prize of Magnum of Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
A Fox's Tale
While strolling near McLaren Vale
I caught a glimpse of a Fox's tail
After following it across hill and dale
I thought I had found the Holy Grail
From that day forward I wore a grin
Being this happy is surely a sin
I call out to all friends and kin
Come sample a drop of your favourite bin
For a finer wine you will no longer seek
Once you have tasted the pleasures of Fox Creek
And Bill Stone won 3rd prize of a magnum of JSM
This is the tale of a wine buff,
Whose passion in life was to seek
Exciting new wines, from well tended vines,
But alas, the future looked bleak,
His palate was jaded and all hope had faded
'Til he discovered the delights at Fox Creek!
Now his mission is over, he's living in clover,
Enjoying great wines, with lots of pizzaz,
(like Short Row Shiraz)
Every day of the week.
Download the September 2004 issue of the Canine Chronicle [635 Kb PDF file].
Just last year Shadow was nothing but a farm dog, a Border Collie that with a stroke of luck was saved from a messy fate and given a new home and his own wine label. From there he was propelled into canine fame and fortune. Last time we read about Shadow, he was just starting his transition from Fox Creek’s winery dog to Australian wine icon. Since then, it has been nothing but a whirlwind of fun and loving, travel and revelry. Like Kylie, Thorpie, Delta and Naomi, Shadow has been spotted at all of the big events and glamorous parties around the world. From the Oscars, to the Carnival in Rio, to some of the great sporting events, Shadow has been a guest of the most famous and salubrious types in the world. This week the Canine Chronicle caught up with Shadow back home at the Fox Creek Vineyard in South Australia’s McLaren Vale where he has just launched a white wine, simply called ‘Shadow’s run, The White’. CC spoke with Shadow about fame, travels and all those celebrity run-ins.
Welcome back Shadow. We can’t wait to hear, what’s the last year been like?
Yeah well, really amazing. I thought last year was full on after the release of the original Shadow’s run – what with the TV appearance and all those reviews - but it has been nothing compared to the journey I have been on this year. A dog’s life one day; celebrity status the next.
You have travelled to some amazing locations, can you tell us what the highlights were?
Until last year I had never been out of the country so getting to the Taj Mahal and China’s Red Square was truly amazing. I must admit there were a few language barriers in China and as for the Taj, well that’s a decent kennel indeed. And the Carnival in Rio... well I spent most of the time blushing. I thought there were laws against that sort of behaviour.
You have been spotted with some high profile celebrities, can you tell us about some of those experiences?
The invitations to the sporting events were the most fun. I was invited to the Melbourne Cup as the guest of these sisters from New York. Apparently their dad owns some big hotel chain. Anyway we had all sorts of fun shopping before the event and got lots of great pictures. Those two are certainly not camera shy. Another great event was the Grand Prix where I got to run in a celebrity race alongside the F1 cars which was a real rush.
In the last interview, you mentioned talk of a pantomime in London, how did that go?
It was an adaptation of Run Spot Run, called Run Shadow Run… it was actually pretty short, just a few scenes… you know, Dick and Jane watching me, well, run. It was strange because I remember it as an old kids book that my family read aloud while I slept on the fl oor. But as soon as it was a popular show, the critics kept writing stuff like “children’s masterpiece bought to life” and that really blew me away.
What about the Tussaud’s wax museum?
Oh yeah that was a nightmare. I had to stand still for hours and every time I thought I recognised someone from home to have a chat, they were really cold, didn’t even talk back. It took me a while before the penny dropped that Kylie was not being rude, she was just not really there. Good place to see celebrities, not very good to catch up with them.
But you hardly need introduction these days Shadow, what about the invitation to the Royal Danish wedding?
Oh that? Frederik and Mary are old friends. I fi rst met Mary when I was at some collie trials down in Tassie. She was really cool, just a normal person and then ba-boom – there she is on the front cover of Hello! magazine. The wedding was really beautiful and being asked to walk down the aisle as the flower dog was such an honour though it was pretty difficult to just walk and not run.
We saw it reported in all of the tabloids, but can you give us your account of the day with the Beefeaters in London?
Oh I got in big trouble that day. I went to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. Now from where I was I couldn’t see that high up and I kept getting glimpses of these brown fl uffy things and I swear it looked just like an old mate from home, a chocolate Labrador from the Vale. So I went the chase - just like at home when I chase the vibrations of the vineyard wires - yapping and barking. What I didn’t realise was that the fl uffy things were the big hats of these beefeaters and I nearly took the nose of one of them clean off. They were calling me the “Beefeater eater”.
Speaking of fashion, you were asked to model some clothes in Milan?
Now that was weird. You see, animal print is really in at the moment. And because I am still in it and it doesn’t actually harm any animals, everyone is having animal fur in their runway shows, but with the animal still in it. Like I said, really weird especially when one of the assistants tried to have me dry cleaned. There’s been all sorts of rumours about THAT event with Ian Thorpe at the Olympic trials.
Can you tell us what really happened?
Oh I still feel awful about that. Ian and I became friends after we both worked at a Dolce and Gabbana show in Milan. I went to see him swim in his 400 metre Olympic trial heat and just as he was about to dive in I couldn’t contain myself. I woofed “Go Thorpeeeeeddooooo!” It gave the poor bugger such a fright he lost his balance, fell in and was disqualifi ed from the race. I felt awful but luckily he is still swimming for Australia in Athens.
But the Wallabies weren’t that lucky.
The result of the game was such a shame but it wasn’t nearly as scary as being in England that night. The city was heaving with patriotism, adrenalin and funny black beer. Anyone looking anything like a wallaby was in trouble. I was hassled so much I ended up telling the locals I was an English sheepdog not a Border Collie just to get out of there with everything intact. And that song, Sweet Chariot, if I heard that one more time I was going to howl to the moon.
What’s it like to be back?
A lot of my friends have started families which is great to see. But there are so many puppies it’s hard to remember everyone’s name – there’s Spot, Patch, Bluey, Dee-Fa ... the list goes on.
Has much changed at the Fox Creek vineyard?
Well there’s a few changes such as the new winemaker, Chris Dix and another dog named Pip. He’s only young so likes to hang out with me which is pretty cute. And of course there’s my new white wine as well as the second release of my red wine. But it’s great to see that all the things I love about the place are exactly the same as when I left them. There are the beautiful wines, the old cellar door, the lovely locals who bring me old tennis balls and come by for a pat and a chat. Yeah, it’s just as beautiful as when I left it. I’ll be home for a while now, you should come by and see for yourself.
Thanks Shadow
Woof!