Description
Ashton Hills has the oldest pinot vineyard in the Adelaide Hills. Stephen George wears two winemakers’ hats … one for his Ashton Hills wines coming from his estate vineyard high in the Adelaide Hills, the other for the iconic Wendouree wines in Clare. He refers to his dry grown Piccadilly Valley vineyard planted back in 1982 as the “Burgundy of the Adelaide Hills”. Stephen is one of Australia’s most highly respected wine making viticulturists and a pioneer of Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir. In 1982 he planted his dry-grown 3 hectare vineyard (which he refers to as his garden!) and has experimented much with trellising and planting 21 different pinot clones and settled on the best performing 5 clones. To give you an idea of the attention to detail of this craftsman, sometimes they go through 4 times hand picking the same row to ensure optimum ripeness! The result is sublime pinot noir.. unfortunately in minuscule quantities!
The Estate is handpicked, gently destemmed to preserve as many whole bunches as possible, followed by basket press, minimal sulphur additions and maturation in French oak.
You don’t need to spend much time in the Piccadilly Valley to realise why this area was granted sub-regional status–it is totally different to the rest of the Hills. In short, it’s much colder and wetter. Ashton Hills lies at 570 metres above sea level and the vines shudder through some of the coolest vintage conditions in the country. Meanwhile, rainfall is a whopping 1200mm a year, well over double that of the Barossa. Whether it’s the lifted perfumes, elegant structure and Alpine freshness of the Pinot Noirs or the icy purity of the Riesling, Piccadilly Valley’s bona-fide cool-climate imprint is never far away.
The Estate Pinot Noir is sourced purely from our five preferred clones. The pinot fruit is destemmed via a small, customised, gentle destemmer that keeps as many whole berries as possible. The fruit is then basket pressed, and the wine is made without any sulphur additions until bottling. Some whole bunches are included, and the percentage varies according to the style of the vintage. The pinot is then matured in one and two year old barriques prior to bottling. It is designed to be enjoyed upon release, however careful cellaring will see the wine evolve handsomely for at least another five years.
As the label suggests, this is made from 100% Ashton Hills’ vineyard fruit. Three clones from the estate vineyard made the cut for the 2017, with Martini heading the list at 57%, D5V12 at 33% and 10% from MV6. Grapes were handpicked, keeping individual clones separate in small open fermenters. Small amount of whole bunches were added to ferments, enhancing aromatics and structural complexity. Fermentation was initiated by indigenous yeast (wild ferment). Each clonal parcel was basket pressed and filled to seasoned French oak barriques with full solids. All barrels were kept on lees to build palate, body and complexity and racked off lees just prior to bottling. No sulphur used during winemaking other than bottling.
Aromas of fragrant red cherries with a touch of rosemary, autumn leaf and roasted meats. On the palate, succulent sour cherries and red fruits are balanced by a mouth-watering acid, driving the length of the palate. Savoury characters and textures build, with underlying notes of peat, tilled earth and leafy undergrowth adding to the layers and complexity of this wine. 14.5% alc.
95 points, James Halliday “It has excellent colour and depth of fruit, predominantly red cherry and wild strawberry, accompanied by fine tannins and oak that needs to settle down – which it will do as the spices build.”
RRP $60 LAST BOTTLES LEFT Our Price $49.99
(2018 vintage now available as Special 6 Pack buy … Click here)
