95 points, Tim Atkin MW
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About the Wine
Critic Reviews
95 points, Tim Atkin MW
“Made from a site planted in 1996 to make a single vineyard Pinotage - quite a bold move at the time by Anthony Hamilton Russell - Ashbourne was not produced between 2011 and 2015 and includes some new material in 2018. Grippy, firm and serious, it’s a very ambitious red with some spice from the addition of stems, blackberry and red berry fruit and fine oak. Bravo! 2022-28”
About The Winery
Ashbourne was founded in 1996 by Anthony Hamilton Russell and is located on a beautiful 160 acre property in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley on the eastern border of Hamilton Russell Vineyards. Today the range consists of three wines: Pinotage, Pinotage-Cinsault, and Sauvignon Blanc-Chardonnay. Pinotage was the first Ashbourne wine released in 2001, grown on extremely clay-rich, stony soils, well suited to nursing a high level of refinement and classic styling out of Pinotage. Five years later, the first Ashbourne Sandstone wine was released. This wine was grown on quartzitic sandstone soils, which emphasize the nervous energy and minerality of Sauvignon Blanc. By releasing the Ashbourne Sauvignon Blanc-Chardonnay in 2012, the estate drew from its Ashbourne quality research and two decades of experience working with blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to create a wine for people with fine wine palates at a price which enables them to drink it regularly. The 2017 release of an unwooded Ashbourne Pinotage-Cinsault blend from old vines saw Ashbourne take a step out of its home terroir into the warmer Swartland, where lower acids and higher pH levels combine with the lighter, ancient, decomposed granite soils to afford an ease of structure and mouthfeel enabling a fresh, pure, early release wine with marked aromatic and flavor complexity without excessive weight.
