2023 Ashton Hills Estate Pinot Noir

Highly Rated
A refined and layered Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir, shaped by a cool, low-yielding vintage and defined by its depth, structure, and signature Piccadilly elegance.

Price:
Sale price$76.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

Ashton Hills' Estate Pinot Noir is always a marker of the vintage, and in 2023 it’s a wine of finesse and quiet power. Sourced entirely from the estate’s six preferred clones, it's a pure expression of Piccadilly Valley Pinot - layered, structured, and built to impress.

The 2023 season was cool and slow, with reduced yields and a long ripening period. The result? Small, intensely flavoured berries that bring depth and precision to the glass. Handpicked fruit, 14% whole bunch, and wild fermentation keep things true to site, while time in French oak (just 17% new) adds polish without overshadowing the fruit. Expect layers of red and black berries, a hint of baking spice, and that signature Piccadilly freshness. Fine tannins and a long, savoury finish round it all out.

This is a Pinot that’s drinking beautifully now but will only gain in complexity over the next five years.

96 points
"Svelte and meticulous with a minerally profile and brisk acidity. Tart red cherry, smoky spice, forest floor, and brambly blackberries, with clove and exotic aromatics lending complexity. Understated yet structured, with length and control. Utter charm is the result."
- Mike Bennie (Halliday Wine Companion)

95 points
"A powerhouse Pinot Noir with strong, measured fruit, tannin, and oak. Red and black cherries, peppercorns, cedarwood, smoked meat, and a wild mix of herbs, florals, and spices. Beautifully crafted and refined."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

94 points
"Stylish and fine with red fruit, beeswax, clove, cherry, and blood orange. Elegant and silky, reflecting its cool-season origins. Crafted from Ashton Hills vineyard fruit, wild fermented with 14% whole bunches, and matured in French oak for nine months."
- Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

96 points - "A lower-yield year with prolonged ripening and coolness alongside. It’s a svelte and meticulous pinot noir, tightly coiled around a strongly minerally profile with brisk acidity dragging the wine long and to a distinct, persistent finish. There’s tart red cherry, some smoky spice elements, a touch of forest floor and brambly blackberries in the mix, clove as a gentle indicator of oak seasoning and an array of exotic souk-like aromatics and flavours lending complexity. The wine is quite understated in its profile but delivers a strong sense of structure and tension, length and control. It’s a very fine pinot noir leaning beautifully into its more savoury flex. Utter charm is the result." - Mike Bennie (Halliday Wine Companion)

95 points - "This is a powerhouse. A truly, inherently, varietal powerhouse. It shows strong fruit, strong tannin and strong oak, though all are measured, and all show finesse. Cherries red and black, peppercorns, cedarwood, smoked meat and a wild array of herbs, florals and spices. It puts up the spinnaker and then sails it on home. This is a beautiful Pinot Noir from the estate of Ashton Hills." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

94 points - "The 2023 Estate Pinot Noir is stylish, red-fruited, floral and fine. It has notes of beeswax and clove, cherry and blood orange. The wine is super elegant and fine, with a flow of red fruit across the palate that feels like a harness of the cool season that birthed it. This is very good, silky. The fruit for this wine is from the Ashton Hills vineyard—hence, 'estate'—and was handpicked, keeping the clones D5V12 (42%), 777 (25%), Martini (22%), MV6 (9%) and 828 (2%) separate. It was wild fermented in small open-top fermenters with 14% whole bunches and basket pressed to French oak barriques (17% new) for nine months' maturation." - Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

The Estate Pinot Noir is sourced exclusively from six preferred clones on the estate. The fruit is de-stemmed using a small, customized, gentle de-stemmer that preserves as many whole berries as possible. Some whole bunches are included, with the percentage varying based on the vintage style. After fermentation, the fruit is basket-pressed directly to a combination of old and new French oak barriques. The wine is made without any additions until bottling.

Growing Season
For the second consecutive year, the Piccadilly Valley growing season resulted in reduced yields. A long, cool, and wet winter extended into December, affecting flowering. The cooler-than-average start to the year meant that small bunches and berries required time into March/April to reach maturity.

Bouquet
A complex and lifted nose featuring plum and fresh raspberries with hints of baking spice and wet soil.

Palate
The palate reveals layers of strawberry compote, rhubarb, plum, blackberries, and cured meats. A subtle hint of spice from whole bunch use complements the long finish, supported by fine-grained French oak.

Vinification
Grapes were handpicked, with individual clones kept separate in small open fermenters. Whole bunch fruit (14%) was included to enhance aromatics and structural complexity. Fermentation was initiated by indigenous yeast (wild ferment). Each clonal parcel was basket-pressed directly to a combination of new (17%) and seasoned French oak barriques with full solids. Barrels were kept on lees to build palate weight, body, texture, and complexity, then racked and blended just prior to bottling.

Cellaring
Enjoy now or cellar for around five years to develop further complexity.

Technical Details
Alcohol: 13%

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type Red
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Pinot Noir
Country Australia
Region Adelaide Hills
Australian State SA
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
The Wine Front
The Wine Advocate
Critic Score 96
95
94
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Screw Cap

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Call Us

Send a message