Ashbourne Pinotage/Cinsault 2019

Ashbourne was founded in 1996 by Anthony Hamilton Russell and located on a beautiful 64 hectare property in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley on the eastern border of Hamilton Russell Vineyards.The property is named after Anthony’s great, great grandfather Lord Ashbourne who was Lord Chancellor of Ireland in the late 1800’s.

In 2001 the first Ashbourne wine was released. It is grown on extremely clay-rich, stony soils, well suited to nursing a high level of refinement and classic styling out of Pinotage.

‘Ashbourne began as a quest to make something extraordinary out of Pinotage in ancient, unusually clay-rich, shale-derived soils. It remains our goal to grow and make unusual, age-worthy, classically styled wines with a true South African personality, that belong in the company of the world’s benchmarks.’ Anthony Hamilton Russell.

Although the 2018 winter was wetter than the previous year, the months leading up to harvest in February 2019 were dryer. Luckily the temperature was more moderate during this period and the full effect of the drought was less than it could have been if temperatures were high. The high density plantings of this bush vine Cinsault in Malmesbury Shale-derived soils (with 10% decomposed granite) produced excellent fruit concentration in 2019.The heritage Pinotage vineyard in southeast facing decomposed granite soils, excelled in 2019, with a darker more structured fruit profile than we experienced in 2018.