Winelist No. 56

WINELIST No. 56 Dear Mailing List Member, It’s official - Adelaide’s Indian summer has come to an end. However, many would argue that the Adelaide Hills is seen in its prime as autumn fades. With the smell of burning redgum cutting the crisp, clear air and a landscape of orange, red and green, now is the time to pay Jo a visit at our cellar door to taste the latest releases and enjoy a platter by the fire. For those who have had the pleasure of meeting Jo, you know that her welcome is always warm no matter the season.

To bring us back to matters of wine, I thought we should touch on the vintage just gone – 2018.

It was a family affair for Stephen as he was joined by his partner Ewe’s son, Ben for most of V18. They worked in tandem, with Ben occasionally employing his recognised talents as a photographer to capture the world around them. One pic of a lonely koala waiting for Cellar Door to open was a favourite on social media pages.

It seems that 2018 is going to be a vintage remembered fondly by Stephen for more than the just the company kept. Fruit quality was excellent with warm, sunny and dry days over most of the growing season.

A hailstorm prior to flowering slightly reduced the yields, but this led to great concentration of flavour.

The weather during vintage was very dry, resulting in clean fruit of intense flavour. The cool nights – it was

pretty much a heatwave free summer in SA this year – prevented any loss of all-important fruit acid. That suggests all the quality boxes were ticked in V18 – only the hailstorm cost us a little bit of quantity.

NEW RELEASE TIMETABLE There has been plenty of action around the Piccadilly Valley precinct and we are soon to disgorge the first fizz since 2011 for an October release!

TABLE WINES 2017 Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay – available now (our first chardonnay since 2010 and just 100 dozen made) 2017 Piccadilly Valley Pinot Noir – available now 2018 Estate Riesling – available now FIZZ 2012 Sparkling Shiraz; 2016 Salmon Brut – available October.

Cheers Andrew Kay Managing Director To keep up with life at Ashton Hills, follow us: www.facebook.com/AshtonHillsVineyard www.instagram.com/ashtonhillsvineyard www.ashtonhills.com.au

spices… The texture and flavours are precisely what the smooth tropical fruits in that bouquet signalled: the modest viscosity and clean, fresh, jungle juice all adds up to a very sensible, utterly satisfying, predictably comforting glass of everything’s gonna be all right now, especially with a rare snapper steak and capers or a gentle yellow carp curry with silver service on a good starched linen table cloth…”

ASHTON HILLS PICCADILLY VALLEY PINOT NOIR 2017 ($35, 14% alcohol; screw cap) Jo at the Adelaide Hills Wine Show Lunch where we picked up Gold Medals for the ‘16 Reserve and ‘16 Estate Pinot Noir. Pictured with Tom from our winemaking team.

LATEST NEWS •

2016 Ashton Hills Estate and 2016 Ashton Hills

both won Gold Medals at the Adelaide Hills Wine Show.

Reserve Pinot Noir

• In the UK, renowned wine writer Matthew Jukes lauds the 2016 Ashton Hills Piccadilly and Estate Pinot Noir in his 100 Best Australian Wines (May 2018), and has this to say about the wines: “...shows the purity and precision on which this label has built its reputation. The Piccadilly wine is forward, pliable, generous and engaging while the Estate wine is more structured, dense and exotic ... these are wines for committed Pinot freaks and they never disappoint.”

• Recently, Philip White reviewed the two new release Piccadilly Valley wines. We felt that Philip’s words (as usual) convey the sentiment better than ours or anyone else’s for that matter. From the article “A happy marriage gives carnal luxury” published in InDaily on 24/5/18 and further on Philip’s website, Drinkster – drinkster.blogspot. com. The headline is worth the price of admission alone!

ASHTON HILLS PICCADILLY VALLEY CHARDONNAY 2017 ($35, 13% alcohol; screw cap; 100 dozen made) “…this is a mellow and pacifying Chardonnay to sniff, all musky melons, buttery, creamy pears and mace. It lived in new and old Burgundy barrels for eight months before assemblage; a judicious, unobtrusive oak interaction which has added subtle, perfectly appropriate

“…From the first waft, this is almost disgusting in its visceral sensuality. This is the sensation most of the most-obsessed Pinot perves dream of, but rarely get to feel. There’s just a cheeky tickle of the spice of old French oak, but mainly this bouquet is silk-smooth, musky, fresh-washed flesh. It is not what mortal humans expect of grapes…”

To drink, it’s so bare-faced matter-of-fact that you might just as well undress.

You don’t want food. You’ll want another bottle. Don’t fall in the glass.

HAVE YOU DISCOVERED OUR MARTINI CLUB YET? It’s our very own wine club and the best way to guarantee supply of our new release wines. There are also other benefits such as 10% discount across the range all year round, an invite to a pre-release tasting, vineyard tour and more.

The club takes its name from the Martini pinot noir clone, much loved by Stephen and rarely sighted around these parts. It stemmed from feedback from visitors – particularly interstaters – who said that our wines were not always easy to find and often a vintage was sold out before they had the chance to grab a bottle. The Martini Club takes out the guesswork and offers a raft of additional benefits for pinot noir lovers.

As an incentive to drop by and say hi, if you join at the Cellar Door, you will receive a complimentary bottle 20111 Blanc de Noir and a pair of etched Ashton Hills Vineyard Riedel wine glasses.

You can find all the details at www.ashtonhills.com.au/wine-club/

SPECIAL OFFERS (Available until 30 June 2018, or while stocks last.)

If you want to know the best places to visit in the Adelaide Hills, it pays to check in with the locals. This guy was hanging around cellar door the morning of the Riesling pick.

Ashton Hills Vineyard

PO Box 145 McLaren Vale SA 5171 08 8390 1243 cellardoor@ashtonhills.com.au

Bottle Price

Six Pack Price (10% off)

Qty

Total $

(Bottles)

Pinot Noir 2017

Piccadilly Valley

Pinot Noir - New Release

$35

$189

$

2016

Estate

Pinot Noir

$50

$270

$

2016

Reserve

Pinot Noir

SOLD OUT

2018

Estate

Riesling - New Release

$30

$162

$

2017

Piccadilly Valley

Chardonnay - New Release

$35

$189

$

$

White

Sparkling 2010

Clare Valley

Sparkling Shiraz

SOLD OUT

2011

Piccadilly Valley

Brut Sauvage Sparkling Pinot Noir

SOLD OUT

2011

Ashton Hills

Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Pinot Noir - limited stock

$40

2011

Piccadilly Valley

Salmon Brut Sparkling Pinot Noir

$ $216

$

SOLD OUT

$

$375

$

Special Offers Available until 30 June 2018, or while stocks last Jo’s Winter Dozen PLUS free delivery in Australia

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