2023 Ashton Hills Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay

95 pts
A precise and charming cool-climate Chardonnay from one of the Adelaide Hills’ most respected producers.

Price:
Sale price$39.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship, only 3 units left
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Description

Ashton Hills has long been one of the Adelaide Hills’ benchmark producers, carved out of a steep three-hectare site just below the summit of Mount Lofty. The Piccadilly Valley is their heartland – the coldest, wettest corner of the region and one of the best places in Australia to grow Chardonnay.

The 2023 release pulls fruit from three trusted vineyards across Piccadilly. Everything was handpicked, pressed as whole bunches and left to ferment naturally before a stretch in French oak. It’s a thoughtful, hands-on approach that keeps the vineyard voice front and centre.

In the glass it’s bright and layered – apple and nectarine at first, then peach, fennel and a savoury, saline twist. There’s a creaminess to the palate but the line of acidity keeps it all neat and composed. Right now it drinks with real energy, though there’s no doubt it will deepen with a few years in the cellar.

95 points
"This is a charming wine here, highly recommended."
- Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

Campbell Mattinson

Campbell Mattinson

The Wine Front 92 Points

This is so fresh it almost feels daring. It tastes of pear, peach, custard cream and lemon curd, the latter biting through the finish as it pushes on for more. For the most part it’s not a lean style of chardonnay though that finish makes it feel that way in the end. It has flesh. It has cohesion. There’s a salty aspect here too which, I have to say, is a nice touch. Leave this for another year; it will be good thereafter.

Erin Larkin

Erin Larkin

The Wine Advocate 95 Points

The 2023 Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay leads with crushed nuts and yellow peach, brine and crushed shells, white nectarine and green apple. On the palate, the wine is creamy and totally pleasurable to drink: it feels good in the mouth. This flows in rivulets of flavor across the palate, with a skein of tarragon and shaved fennel through the finish. The fruit for this wine was sourced from three vineyards in the Piccadilly Valley: Bowhouse, Woods Hill and Virgara. It was handpicked, whole-bunch pressed to French oak puncheons and barriques and then matured on solids for nine months prior to bottling. This is a charming wine here, highly recommended. 12% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

Mike Bennie

Mike Bennie

Halliday Wine Companion 93 Points

From a suite of neighbouring vineyards, both growers and some (most) under the care of Ashton Hills. Crisp and bright, lively and fresh, a lighter iteration of the variety but not without mettle of savouriness, textural nuance and impressive length. Offers up scents of green apple, ginger and arrowroot biscuits, lime, woody spices and faint mushroom notes. The palate lines up similar descriptors and delivers light creaminess with some chalky follow-through and a pleasing pink grapefruit twist through the minerally, briny finish. Classy wine from a tricky year.

This Chardonnay is sourced exclusively from the Piccadilly Valley sub-region of the Adelaide Hills, home of Ashton Hills. The Piccadilly Valley is the coldest and wettest part of the region, ideal growing conditions for Chardonnay. Ferment was sparked by indigenous yeasts and the wine matured in a combination of new and used French oak for nine months.

Price Bracket $31 to $40
Type White
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Chardonnay
Country Australia
Region Adelaide Hills
Australian State SA
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Halliday Wine Companion
The Wine Advocate
Critic Score 95
Alcohol 12%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Screw Cap

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