ASHBOURNE WINES
The name of the Ashbourne Wine Estate derives from Anthony?s grandmother?s side of the family. Lord Ashbourne, Anthony?s great, great grandfather was Lord Chancellor for Ireland in the late 1800?s. That beautiful stately house on the label is Anthony?s home, Braemar which he built in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and where he now lives with his wife, Olive. Ashbourne Wine Estate is a 113 ha property lying adjacent to Hamilton Russell Estate on its Eastern border.
When Anthony Hamilton Russell returned to South Africa in 1991 he was fascinated with the idea of creating a particularly classic and individual wine from the Pinotage variety. Pinotage was not widely respected within the industry in spite of its varietal producing some really exciting wines. His aim was to start with the best Pinotage and then decide if blending in small amounts of other red grape varieties would enhance the wine.
While the plan is always to have a Pinotage driven wine, over the coming years small component blending trials will be concluded. To this end two vineyards were planted on Ashbourne, each with different trellising systems and vita-cultural approaches and each with a few rows of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot.
Wines offered by the Ashbourne Wine Estate:
-Ashbourne Sandstone 2006 was released in August 2009; this is a Sauvignon blanc driven wine with components of Chardonnay and Semillon. The name Ashbourne Sandstone comes from grapes grown on light structured, free-draining, Table Mountain Sandstone derived soils.
-The red Ashbourne is a true classic and grown on heavy clay-rich shale derived soils. The 2005 vintage is 100% Pinotage the colour of pale garnet with a wonderful nose of black cherries and licorice.
So, bottom line is that the Hemel-En-Aarde Valley offers more than just fine Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Its cooler climate gives a more elegant expression to the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinotage. Pinotage as a solo variety and not as part of a "Cape blend" can make great wine as is borne out by the power and intensity of Kanonkop.
Drinking and enjoying the exceptional wines from Ashbourne Wine Estate gives credence to the fact that the underdog has a unique intensity.
