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Ashbourne Pinotage

From the maiden release in 2001, this benchmark wine has redefined South Africa’s own red grape variety, Pinotage, with its classic, refined styling and unique complex character. This is a wine unlike anything else, intense, rich and savoury with a beautiful underlying minerality.

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Latest vintage available online via Port2Port.

  • Soil Low vigour, stony, clay-rich, shale-derived soil

 

  • Alcohol 13.38%  Acid 5.11 g/l  pH 3.58  Residual Sugar 1.9 g/l

 

  • Barrel Ageing 10 months in 400 litre tight grained French oak barrels, 6 months in 2000 litre neutral Foudre

 

  • Wooding 100% 400 litre French Oak and 2000 litre neutral Foudre

 

  • Tight Grain 100%

 

  •  1st fill 40%  2nd fill 40% 3rd fill 20%

 

  • French Coopers:  Francois Freres

 

  • Yield 2.20 tons/ha, 13.42 hl/ha  Production 199 cases x 12

 

  • Vegan Friendly

 

  • Release Date – January 2022

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Views on the vintage

Growing Season

Exceptional quality and record low yields characterise 2019,Pinotage yields were 65% down. The Pinotage was particularly concentrated without being too dense or heavy.

 

Overall the vintage was a cooler than 2017 and even 2018, with an average maximum temperature for Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar of 24.5 Centigrade (versus an equivalent long term average for Burgundy of 24.8 Centigrade). Rainfall was lower than average for Spring and during harvest, but occurred in frequent small amounts causing sustained high humidity. Fortunately our organic treatments proved highly effective against the resulting downy and powdery mildew threat. And the day after harvest finished, the serious rains began – some luck at least! We had the highest March rainfall in 21 years. Record low production and some challenges, but the 2019’s have a deep, concentrated, refined beauty

96 Points - Tim Atkin MW

92 Points - Alison Napjus, Wine Spectator, March 2023

One of Tim Atkin’s Pinotage of the Year in his 2021 South African Report.

96 Tim Atkin MW

Made with the touch of top Pinot Noir producer, Emul Ross's Pinotage is one of the most nuanced and complex in the Cape. Floral, racy and nuanced, with delicate tannins, wild strawberry and pomegranate fruit, some pepper spice from partial stem addition and a fine, tapering finish. Bravo!

Lauren Segers, Wine Cellar, April 2022

The 2019 Ashbourne Pinotage, made by the talented Emul Ross 'is one of the most nuanced and complex in the Cape' wrote Tim Atkin MW. He scored it 96 points and listed it as his 'Pinotage of the Year' two years in a row. With delicate, refined tannins, and lifts of violets, bramble and spice, this wine is increasingly impressive. The finish is long and savoury with verve and energy. We think it is their best release yet!

Five Stars, Restaurant Wine, July 2022

Ashbourne is an outstanding property founded by Anthony Hamilton Russell in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley in 1996, next to the family’s prestigious Hamilton Russell Vineyards. First released in 2001, its Pinotage has emerged as one of South Africa’s best, as demonstrated by this remarkable 2016. It is a luscious, full bodied wine of very fine quality: supple and rich, with plum, cranberry, toast, herbs, and pepper flavors, good balance, and a long finish. Delicious now, but can age further.

92 Alison Napjus, Wine Spectator, March 2023

An elegant red, with supple tannins and a rich, savory underpinning of mesquite smoke layered with blackberry coulis and plum sauce. Reveals details of violet, graphite and sandalwood on the bright, lingering finish.