Stephen’s pioneering work at Ashton Hills was one of the catalysts for the development of the Adelaide Hills as a wine region. In the early 1980s, the Adelaide Hills wine scene was very much in its infancy, with Brian Croser leading the charge but very little other vineyard development underway. Along with Croser, Stephen was one of the key players to put Adelaide Hills on the map with his resolve to produce the best pinot noir in the country from his site in the Piccadilly Valley. Buying the land from a market gardener, Stephen recognised its immense potential, often telling friends that “where apples and cherries grow, it’s a good pointer for producing classic European style wines”.

And so the journey began. Planting his vineyard at an altitude of 570 metres and with a south facing aspect that looks towards Mt Lofty, Stephen was drawn to the fact that the site was one of the coolest areas in South Australia. Determined that this was prime real estate for his winemaking vision, Stephen started with cuttings of pinot noir, chardonnay and riesling and soon established himself as a leader in clone development for the emerging region.

The Ashton Hills Vineyard provides the fruit for the majority of Ashton Hills wines including single vineyard wines in the Reserve Pinot Noir, Estate Pinot Noir and Riesling. As custodian of the vineyard for over 30 years, Stephen has harnessed the three key climate variables (humidity, temperature and rainfall) he believes are critical to the Ashton Hills site and developed a reputation for producing some of the finest wines from the Adelaide Hills.

The vineyard has evolved substantially since it was planted in 1982, a time when modern viticulture in the Adelaide Hills was just starting to be embraced. The clonal development of the vineyard has been a critical element in the final blend of each wine, taking advantage of the individual character of each clone in a given vintage. Over the past 26 years, significant changes have been implemented in the vineyard, with the grafting or removal of nearly all other varieties to complete an estate that is dominated by pinot noir, but with a small parcel – just eight rows – of top notch riesling remaining.

Nestled in the Piccadilly Valley, the Ashton Hills vineyard is climatically different to the rest of the Hills, being significantly colder and wetter. At one of the highest altitudes in the Adelaide Hills the vines shudder through some of the coolest growing conditions in the country, with rainfall a whopping 1200mm a year, well over double that of the Barossa Valley. So whether it’s the lifted perfumes and elegant structure of the pinot noir or the crisp purity of the riesling, Piccadilly Valley’s bona-fide cool-climate imprint is a feature of the wines.