Ashton Hills Pinot Noir 2021

The Piccadilly sub-region may be small, yet the undulating topography means the difference between its sites can be pronounced. This 2019 Piccadilly Valley Pinot Noir was sourced predominantly from Ashton Hills, and then blended with small parcels from the neighbouring Blefari Vineyard and Jim Grigg’s Cemetery Block in Uraidla. When compared to the estate site, the Uraidla has deeper soil and lying further down the valley it is warmer, has less rainfall and is less humid. In an average year, the Grigg vineyard will be picked a couple of weeks earlier than the Ashton Hills vineyard, though at the same ripeness. The addition of the Blefari block on Bickles Road, Summertown (named after the Blefari family who manage the site), comes courtesy of the Wirra Wirra connection. The site lies close enough to Ashton Hills that Paul Smith reckons he could land a golf ball in the Blefari vines from Stephen George’s house. For his part, Stephen George is delighted with the opportunity to work with fruit from a site he believes produces the most Burgundian-style Pinot he has seen in the Ashton Hills’ vineyards. Still, we should note that only 20% of this wine is sourced from the latter two, non estate sites.