Ashton Hills Estate Pinot Noir 2015 75cl

Ashton Hills is a three hectare, dry-grownvineyard that lies in the Piccadilly Valley sub region of the Adelaide Hills ona ridge just below the summit of Mount Lofty. The estate was founded by StephenGeorge in 1982 and since that time it has built a reputation as one ofAustralia’s finest proponents of pinot noir and cool climate whites.

Stephen’s pioneering work at Ashton Hills wasone of the catalysts for the development of the Adelaide Hills as a wineregion. In the early 1980s, the Adelaide Hills wine scene was very much in itsinfancy, with Brian Croser leading the charge but very little other vineyarddevelopment underway. Along with Croser, Stephen was one of the key players toput-Adelaide Hills on the map with his resolve to produce the best pinot noirin the country from his site in the Piccadilly Valley. Buying the land from amarket gardener, Stephen recognised its immense potential, often tellingfriends that “where apples and cherries grow, it’s a good pointer for producingclassic European style wines”.

For over 30 years Stephen experimented withup to 25 pinot noir clones, ultimately settling on five key clones that nowmake the acclaimed Reserve and Estate Pinot Noirs from Ashton Hills, plus arange of awarded sparkling wines. Eight carefully cultivated rows of rieslingalso remain in the Ashton Hills vineyard, producing a highly exclusive andlimited Ashton Hills riesling each year.

Stephen has now taken a step back intosemi-retirement to spend more time travelling to his beloved Burgundy, and hastransferred his stake in Ashton Hills to Wirra Wirra Vineyards, with itspedigree in cool climate Adelaide Hills whites and quality McLaren Vale reds.Nonetheless, he continues to reside at his home at the winery and works closelyat vintage with the Wirra Wirra winemaking team to continue the tradition ofproducing benchmark wines from the Ashton Hills site.