a girl and a glass

Last time I wrote about a wine from Ashton Hills I was talking about their chardonnay .  Today I want to tell you a little bit more about their winery and their Pinot Noir.  I mentioned how much I enjoyed my first visit to Ashton Hills in my last post, but I forgot to mention how pretty the winery is and the fantastic artwork Stephen has displayed at the cellar door (and just outside in the case of the image above).  Perched on the side of a hill you arrive to sweeping views of the valley and vines.  The cellar door is small and cosy.  We arrived just as the previous tasters were wrapping up so we didn't have to wait too long and had the place to ourselves.  It's always fun when that happens because you really get to find out a little bit more about the wines, and the winemaker. Anyway on to the Pinot Noir.  Actually there are 3 - the Estate, the Piccadilly and the Reserve.  All equally wonderful and deserving of their own reviews. ...

I only discovered Ashton Hills Vineyard last November on a trip to SA with friends.  It's a tiny little vineyard and the cellar door is only open weekends and public holidays - but the wine is bigger that you would imagine.  The cellar door is situated on the side of a hill and filled with quirky artworks and sculptures made by local artists.  The winemaker, Stephen George established the site in the early 80's and has been producing wines for well over a decade.  It's the kind of winery that you wouldn't ordinarily stumble across because the production is quite small, but when you do discover it you're glad that you did.  (And I'm very glad we did because I have quite a few of his wines on my rack now). Ok on to the wine.  This chardonnay was fantastic to taste.  The colour is bright - think of fresh straw that still has tinges of green.  The nose is pretty funky which is really interesting - think stinky cheese or mushroom notes and you'd...