WINELIST No. 62 Dear Mailing List Member, We greet you full of post-vintage enthusiasm, after a season that has been both kind and generous to vignerons in the Adelaide Hills. The vigorous yields in the vineyard meant “thinning” was the order of the day leading up to the ’21 harvest, to ensure we maximised the quality of the fruit on the vine. The ideal spring - and mild summer that followed - have provided perfect growing and ripening conditions and the smiles on Stephen and Liam’s faces attest to that. Mother Nature has done her bit, now it’s our turn to let the fruit shine. All the usual suspects have performed well – pinot noir, chardonnay and riesling – and if you dropped by the winery early in the season you may have spotted a small parcel of pinot gris interrupting our normal programming. This will form a new, small batch wine made exclusively for our cellar door customers and members – a blend of pinot noir and pinot gris. The Pinot x Pinot is a Beaujolais-style early drinking red that will handle a gentle chill and be ready just in time for the warmer months later in the year. I’ve been the cheerleader on this one, so I’m anxious to taste the end result!
If you cast your mind back to vintage ’20, it was nothing like the summer just gone and yields across the state were right down. I think the 2020 “PV Pinot” may be the best produced since we started our tenure at Ashton Hills, but the quantity is on the low side, so I encourage you to get onto this wine while you can. Liza will be waiting with her ready smile at the cellar door to taste you through these new releases. Speaking of cellar door, the Adelaide Hills region is celebrating the chardonnay variety during the month of May, with the imaginatively titled “Chardonnay May” event. We will be participating by offering a vertical tasting of the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay during the month – a real treat for lovers of this revered grape. Cheers, Andrew Kay Managing Director
As the Adelaide Hills takes on its stunning autumnal hue, we traditionally release a selection of new vintage wines. This year is no exception with the arrival of the 2020 Piccadilly Valley Pinot Noir, 2020 Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay and the 2018 Piccadilly Valley Vintage Rosé Sparkling.
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