Ashton Hills Vineyard
5 Stars, one of the 'Best of the Best' - James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2011-2012
Adelaide Hills, South Australia and Clare Valley, South Australia
www.santewines.com.au
Ashton Hills Vineyard winemaker Stephen George has long been regarded as an early pioneer of the now well-established viticultural site, the Adelaide Hills. Stephen established his 3ha dry-grown Ashton Hills Vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley in the early 1980s and began producing its first wines in 1987. The style reflects the region’s strong similarity to Burgundy and production levels have stayed true to the boutique nature of the winery’s beginnings.
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Stephen George
‘Australia’s 10 bravest winemakers’, Andrew Jefford, Decanter, May 2010
Matthew Jukes: My Top 20 Producers
“Stephen George is one of the most naturally gifted winemakers in Australia…”
Matthew Jukes, Decanter, April 2010
“Stephen discovered grapes and wine at the age of eleven and made a “Vin Suburbia” from backyard grapes three years later. At the age of 16 he blew all his money on the classic book General Viticulture and there was no turning back. A vintage at Glenloth and study at Roseworthy led him to identify the Adelaide Hills as a likely region for the production of finely-flavoured European-styled wines. In the early ‘80s he established Ashton Hills Vineyard on a Brussels sprout paddock. The site has proven to be particularly good for pinot noir and retains a focus on grape growing and winemaking rather than marketing.”
The Adelaide Review, July 2010
Ashton Hills Vineyard
One of the ‘Best of the Best’ Wineries and 5/5 red stars,
James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2011 – 2012
Ashton Hills Vineyard ‘Reserve’ Pinot Noir
95/100 points, 5 glasses, ‘Special Value’ (2009 vintage)
James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2012
Gourmet Traveller Wine – Best Buy Wines: Wines to cellar (2009 vintage)
“Stephen George, flies well under the radar, seeking no fame or outlandish fortune. His Ashton Hills Vineyard was planted almost 30 years ago, producing high quality, individualistic wines. The Reserve is the top of the range, its light colour and equally light body belying its depth and intensity. It’s been carefully crafted with well-integrated red berry fruits, exotic spices and a deep, savoury complexity. A pleasing acidity frames the picture while a silken texture flows seamlessly to a graceful finale. PB.”
Peter Bourne, Gourmet Traveller Wine, Best Buy Wines – Wines to Cellar, June/July 2011
Ashton Hills Vineyard ‘Estate’ Pinot Noir
95/100 points, 5 glasses, ‘Special Value’ (2009 vintage)
James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2012
Ashton Hills Vineyard Chardonnay
One of the ‘Best of the Best by variety’: ‘Best of Chardonnay’, 96/100 points, 5 glasses, ‘Special Value’ (2009 vintage)
James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2012
Ashton Hills Vineyard Sparkling Shiraz
One of the ‘Best of the Best by variety’: ‘Best of Sparkling Red’, 94/100 points, 5 glasses, ‘Special Value’ (2002 vintage)
James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2012
Best Vintage Sparkling Wine, 96/100 points (2002 vintage), Nick Stock, Good Wine Guide 2011
One of the ‘Best of the Best by variety’, 95/100 points (2002 vintage), James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2011
Ashton Hills Vineyard ‘Three’ Gewürztraminer Pinot Gris Riesling
“The first local to follow the Alsace blending lead was Stephen George of Ashton Hills in the Adelaide Hills, who released his first Three in 2003, a blend of pinot gris, gewürztraminer and riesling (in that order, by proportion). “I’m emulating Alsace, but without the sylvaner,” says George. (…) That 2003 has evolved beautifully in bottle, while the 2007 is equally smart. There’s a small amount of this available at the cellar door, but there is no 2008 as George wanted to experiment with straight gewürztraminer and late-picked – “tardy” – pinot gris.”
Tim White, The Age, Epicure, March 2009
