CELLAR-DOOR OPEN WEEKEND

Aldgate Ridge will hold its annual cellar-door open days on Saturday and Sunday, September 11 and 12, from 11am to 5pm on both days. Our latest releases — Aldgate Ridge 2002 Pinot Noir and 2004 Sauvignon Blanc — will be available for tasting. A highlight will be an opportunity to participate in a vertical tasting of all our pinots.

Order now (phone 08 8388 5225), pick up your wine during the cellar-door open days and receive a 10 per cent discount.

VINTAGE REPORT 2004

Adelaide Hills winter provided average rainfall with bud burst occurring mid September into a frost-free and generally warm spring.  These conditions led to vigorous vine growth with a heavy fruit set.  December was unusually hot, boosting vine vigour but giving way to a mild January, cooled by frequent southerly airstreams.  The vineyard faced February’s record hot days that burnt fruit in the Barossa although our altitude and earlier stage of ripening seemed to protect us from crop losses.  February’s scorchers were followed by a much milder March with ideal ripening conditions – sunny days and mild dewy nights.  Vintage stretched to mid April.

We picked the Sauvignon Blanc on Easter Saturday … it was a bit misty and the rain came in later in the day.  The crop level was up from last year, partly seasonal and partly due to changing to cane pruning.  The Pinot came off the next Saturday with a little help from our friends.  Our Burgundy Style Picking Day yielded 40 pickers from 7 to 82 years old who made the contract pickers look like they were totally challenged!  With Louise plying us with gourmet fare every few hours we powered up and down the rows, picking 9 tons by 4:00pm. Followed by the last of the 2003 Sauvignon Blanc (saved especially) not to mention a few bottles of Pinot to wash down the gourmet BBQ.

NEW RELEASES

The 2004 Aldgate Ridge Sauvignon Blanc is in the bottle, screw cap on, and ready to drink and we think it again demonstrates that our Onkaparinga hillside has it right for this variety.  Even with an increased yield we have produced a clean, crisp clear wine, packed with a delightful balance of green, spring meadow grasses and capsicum flavours together with nuances of tropical fruits including passionfruit and melon.

We are also releasing our 2002 Pinot Noir. While most vineyards released this vintage last year (and raved about the 2002 vintage for pinot), we like to add the extra year of bottle age to bring out more flavours and “oral” experiences.  We agree that 2002 was truly a great year for Adelaide Hills Pinots… and this wine we put down as our best one released yet!

A HECTIC BUT REWARDING 12 MONTHS

The last 12 months have seen Aldgate Ridge launch seriously into the Eastern States. We have 2 fabulous distributors now.  Jonathan Sayer of Bacchant Wines and his team have presented Aldgate Ridge to the top end market in Sydney, Regional NSW, ACT and Brisbane.  In Victoria, Todd Lichti of J Harvey Long Wine Co, has also promoted our wines gaining an enthusiastic following for our Pinot in the state full of pinot connoisseurs.  The wines have been well received and scored a number of positive reviews. Our 03 Sav Blanc was selected by Max Allen as one of the top 6, in the company of NZ and French examples.  That wine sold out within 3 weeks of release. Our 02 Pinot was judged second in a field of 63 pinots in the 03 Stanthorpe Small Winemakers Show.

ALDGATE RIDGE BED & BREAKFAST

Is now open — self contained vineyard accommodation with own en suite, deck area, breakfast facilities stocked with local produce and access to the indoor solar heated swimming pool (summer).  With an emphasis on the vineyard experience … come and try some wine and check out the vineyard.