Picadilly Valley Pinot Noir 2022

The 2022 Piccadilly Valley Pinot Noir is a blend of fruit from a handful of grower vineyards around the Ashton Hills estate. Grapes were handpicked, keeping individual clones and vineyards separate in small open fermenters. Some whole bunch fruit (24%) was added to ferments, enhancing aromatics and structural complexity. Fermentation was initiated by indigenous yeast (wild ferment) and each parcel was basket pressed directly to seasoned French oak barriques and puncheons with full solids. All barrels were kept on lees to build palate weight, body, texture and complexity.

The Ashton Hills Vineyard provides the fruit for the majority of Ashton Hills wines including single vineyard wines in the Reserve Pinot Noir, Estate Pinot Noir and Riesling. As custodian of the vineyard for over 30 years, Stephen has harnessed the three key climate variables (humidity, temperature and rainfall) he believes are critical to the Ashton Hills site and developed a reputation for producing some of the finest wines from the Adelaide Hills.

Nestled in the Piccadilly Valley, the Ashton Hills vineyard is climatically different to the rest of the Hills, being significantly colder and wetter. At one of the highest altitudes in the Adelaide Hills the vines shudder through some of the coolest growing conditions in the country, with rainfall a whopping 1200mm a year, well over double that of the Barossa Valley. So whether it’s the lifted perfumes and elegant structure of the pinot noir or the crisp purity of the riesling, Piccadilly Valley’s bona-fide cool-climate imprint is a feature of the wines.

The geology of the Piccadilly Valley consists of pre-cambrian sediments ranging from 1,600 million years-old calcsilicates to 700 million years-old phyllites, shales, sandstones and quartz-rich strata. The soils are podsolised duplex, sandy to clay loams and the geology is from either Woolshed Flat Shale, Basket Range Sandstone or Barossa Complex.

Reduced yields from the 2022 harvest were the result of poor fruit set due to a cold spring. This turned out to be a blessing, with a cool summer pushing the majority of our harvest into the last week of March and early April. Ripening of the small berries and bunches was long and slow which has resulted in wines with intense colour, flavour, concentration and structure.

Grapes were handpicked, keeping individual clones and vineyards separate in small open fermenters. Some whole bunch fruit (24%) was added to ferments, enhancing aromatics and structural complexity. Fermentation was initiated by indigenous yeast (wild ferment) and each parcel was basket pressed directly to seasoned French oak barriques and puncheons with full solids. All barrels were kept on lees to build palate weight, body, texture and complexity. They were racked and blended just prior to bottling.

12 months in French barriques, mostly older