Bird in Hand winery at Woodside in Adelaide Hills gets golden nod in 2023 to continue its artistic and green aims
Bird in Hand winery at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills had strong environmental emphasis, along with being home to creative and artistic individuals.
Bird in Hand winery at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills proved itself worth its weight on gold in 2023 when it won a long struggle to ward off a mine being opened next door and underneath it.
A bid by the Terramin company to revive 1880s Bird in Hand mining at Woodside and unlock an estimated half a billion dollars in gold was rejected by the South Australian government in favour of the Bird in Hand winery and an area that was “home to a world-class viticulture industry, producing some of Australia's best-loved wines."
Bird in Hand, named after the 19th Century gold mine, grew from a vision in 1997 by the Nugent family, headed by Dr Michael Nugent. His son Andrew, a winemaker graduate of Adelaide University’s Roseworthy campus, and his wife Susie ran the winery with a guiding philosophy of “Bird in Hand as a microcosm of the natural cycles of life, where the story in the soil becomes the inspiration for various manifestations of modern art and culture.”
The Woodside estate’s 80 fertile acres produced wine across four specialty tiers; MAC, Nest Egg, Bird in Hand and Two in the Bush. Bird in Hand maintained a high standard of environmental practices, including eliminating all synthetic pesticides and fungicides from the vineyards and gardens. The Bird in Hand private members’ club was home to creative and artistic individuals. It hosted exclusive member-only culinary experiences, concerts and art soirees.
The Bird in Hand Foundation, created in 2014, supported creativity, gender and indigenous equality through education and the arts. The foundation supported the Adelaide Hills community in the wake of the Cudlee Creek bushfires by donating all proceeds from the local CRUSH Festival 2020, raising more than $63,000 donated equally between the Onkaparinga CFS (Country Fire Service) group and Adelaide Hills wine region bushfire appeal.
The Nugent family also had a vineyard in the Clare Valley, producing riesling and shiraz. Bird in Hand was also set to expand into Tasmania, having bought a rugged stretch of coastline in Seymour on the east coast of Tasmania, bordering the Douglas Apsley National Park
