Ashton Hills Reserve Pinot Noir 2021
$94.99
VERY LIMITED. Flag ship wine from Adelaide Hills Pinot Superstar! 97 Points, Andrew Caillard MW
2 in stock
Description
Ashton Hills is a three hectare, dry-grown vineyard that lies in the Piccadilly Valley sub region of the Adelaide Hills on a ridge just below the summit of Mount Lofty. The estate was founded by Stephen George in 1982 and since that time it has built a reputation as one of Australia’s finest proponents of pinot noir and cool climate whites. Ashton Hills has the oldest pinot vineyard in the Adelaide Hills. Stephen George wore two winemakering hats … one for his Ashton Hills wines, the other for the iconic Wendouree wines in Clare. He refered 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. He 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!
Stephen has now taken a step back into semi-retirement to spend more time travelling to his beloved Burgundy, and has transferred his stake in Ashton Hills to Wirra Wirra Vineyards, with its pedigree in cool climate Adelaide Hills whites and quality McLaren Vale reds. Nonetheless, he continues to reside at his home at the winery and works closely at vintage with Liam Van Pelt, our Winery Manager, to continue the tradition of producing benchmark wines from the Ashton Hills site.
As James Halliday has noted, “[Ashton Hills] is the most distinguished site in South Australia for Pinot Noir; Stephen’s unremitting attention to detail has made Ashton Hills the one Grand Cru of the state.” He’s got a point. What other site in S.A. can point to such a track record of quality with the Pinot Noir grape? And it’s the Reserve that really bangs home this point each year it’s released.
“Great news that Wirra Wirra has bought Ashton Hills. It’s like hearing that two of your best friends are hitching up: they could only have beautiful kids, no?” – Huon Hooke
Winemaker Liam van Pelt described 2021 vintage as : “A glorious long, mild growing season resulting in beautifully perfumed and precise wines.”
The Reserve Pinot Noir is sourced purely from our five preferred clones on the estate, with the 2021 blend made up of D5V12 (75%), Martini (20%) and 777 (5%).
97 Points; Andrew Caillard MW The Vintage Journal: “Medium crimson. Lovely elemental wine, negroni strawberry, superb chestnut, crème bruleé, church spices oak notes. Wonderfully concentrated negroni, strawberry, spicy vanilla, roasted chestnut flavours with fine chalky tannins and integrated fresh acidity, Superb viscosity, density and mineral length. Date: Dec 2022; Drink now – 2034 “
96 points, Jeni Port for James Halliday’s 2023 Australian Wine Companion “Fermented with 25% whole bunches, matured 9 months in French oak (40%). A blend of 4 pinot clones, led by D5V12, this offers a walk on the wild side with its earth and forest floor, hummus and prune in concert with black-hearted fruits. Makes quite an entrance and then keeps you entranced as you subconsciously pick out flavours and sensations across its fine tannin-led palate. And still so much more to give.”
RRP $113 Our Special Price $94.99 – Last of this vintage!!
Additional information
Producer | Ashton Hills |
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Variety | Pinot Noir |
Region or Country | Adelaide Hills, Australia |
Vintage | 2021 |