Ashton Hills Estate Pinot Noir 2022
$67.99
SPECIAL BUY 6 or more. Excellent vintage.
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 winemaking viticulturalists 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.
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.
Reduced yields from the 2022 harvest were the result of poor fruit set due to a cold spring. This turned out to be a blessing, with a cool summer pushing the majority of our harvest into the last week of March and early April. Ripening of the small berries
and bunches was long and slow which has resulted in wines with intense colour, flavour, concentration and structure.
Grapes were handpicked, keeping individual clones separate in small open fermenters. Some whole bunch fruit (18%) was added to ferments, enhancing aromatics and structural complexity. Aromas of subtle red fruits, quince and plum are balanced with savoury earthy notes and spice. The vibrant palate is dominated by strawberry and plum with hints of wet earth and spice in the background. A defined acid line and fine tannins provide a tight, structured palate that finishes with a dusting of soft, charry oak.
94 points – Ranked #3 of 23 Pinot Noir Adelaide Hills,Huon Hook, Real Review
“Medium-light red-purple, good youthful hue if a touch pale; unusual metallic overtones, rusty nails, even a hint of lemon-juice, the palate light to medium weighted and intense, bright and fresh, lively and clean, no obvious whole-bunch notes.
Lively, refreshing and high-energy finish. Fine tannins in excellent balance.”
Reviews of 2021:
96 points, The Vintage Journal “A step up with beautiful negroni, strawberry aromas topped by vanilla notes. Lovely fresh strawberry, roasted chestnut, fine chalky textures. Finishes chalky/ al dente with a tannin plume. Lovely fruit complexity, viscosity and mineral length. Drink now – 2030”
95 points, Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion “Fermented with 18% whole bunches, matured in new and seasoned French oak for 9 months. The 2021 vintage was widely considered to be an excellent vintage in Piccadilly Valley. Pinot was a standout. Here, it delivers an exotic edge to an impressively vibrant red-garnet hue, with a mix of black cherry, cranberry and red berries, forest notes, a hint of musk here, bitter wild herbs there. All dressed up in fine tannins and ready to go.”
93+ points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front “... There’s undergrowth to its cherries notes, spice to its earth, tobacco to its cedar wood oak. Balance is about as good as it gets, as is the way the wine’s fine-grained tannin slips through the wine, unobtrusively for the most part and yet just asserting itself enough to make you take it seriously. Just hold onto this for a wee while. It’s going to a good place.”
RRP $79 Our Special Price $67.99 when you buy 6 or more. Limited
Additional information
Producer | Ashton Hills |
---|---|
Region or Country | Adelaide Hills, Australia |
Variety | Pinot Noir |
Vintage | 2022 |