WINELIST No. 67 Dear Wine List Member, 2023 has been such a busy year, I almost forgot to write to you! This year we secured the lease on two beautiful vineyards in the Piccadilly Valley. The Woods Hill Vineyard, directly across the road from Ashton Hills, is planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a very small amount of Pinot Munier… Keep your eyes peeled for what we might do with this! The Bowhouse Vineyard, possibly one of the steepest vineyards in Australia, is planted to four clones of Pinot Noir and three clones of Chardonnay. I’m very excited to have these vineyards under our management as the fruit from both has historically gone into some very famous South Australian wines. With our dedication to viticulture, I know these vineyards will surpass previous achievements. With all of this premium fruit destined for the winery in 2024, I thought it might be time for an upgrade. Luckily our family ownership shares our vision to be one of the best producers of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the country, and this vision is slowly coming to life. As I write, we have a custom-designed processing setup on the way from Europe, based on original Ashton Hills equipment. And if that’s not impressive enough, we also have twelve custom stainless steel fermenters being made. To house this brand-new equipment we are also building a new shed at the winery, hopefully in time for vintage 2024. If you have visited the Cellar Door in the past few weeks, you might’ve seen a couple of new faces. Olivia and Sophie have both joined the team recently and are settling in well.
We also welcomed two very new additions to the Ashton Hills family, Shauni from the Cellar Door welcomed her second little girl Hazel in August and in June, Holly and I welcomed our perfect little Goldie. Needless to say, life has been hectic for all of us lately! In between baby cuddles, Liza has been run off her feet at the Cellar Door, and the silly season will be no different. If you are planning a visit, please book online or call Liza to make arrangements. We look forward to hosting you. Ph. (08) 8390 1243 www.ashtonhills.com.au Cheers and best wishes for the holiday season! Liam