Tasting notes from the winery for Ngeringa Iluma Syrah 2018

Full of concentrated blackberry, black current and blueberry with layers of cinnamon, liquorice, aniseed, cloves, star anise and rose water perfume. Plush and velvet-like tannins, with hints of cool-climate Syrah-spice. Complex and long. 

Vintage: The growing season experienced variable weather with good subsoil moisture from late winter rains. Summer experienced some warm to hot periods but were always followed by cooler conditions, enabling a healthy canopy and protected bunches. During veraison, this trend continued, leading to excellent flavor development. Picking decisions were critical in order to capture the balance of natural acidity and depth of fruit. 

Vineyard: On the northern slope of the Mount Barker Summit, at an altitude of 420m, is the Iluma Vineyard, home of Ngeringa's "most inspiring and exciting fruit". The majority of Ngeringa Syrah and Viognier is planted in the Iluma vineyard, facing west on lean, textured soil of micaceous schist and ironstone over clay. The Iluma vineyard is also long certified biodynamic with no chemical sprays applied. 

Winemaking: The Syrah is gently hand harvested into small 15kg crates and mostly destemmed into small batch fermenters. A small quantity of whole bunches were placed in the bottom of each fermenter. The grapes were gently plunged by hand or feet twice a day for a long extraction over two to three weeks. This syrah was pressed into new (30%) French oak barriques (228L) and left in barrel to mature for 11 months. A small dose of sulfur was added at blending, prior to bottling. No enzymes, no fining, no filtration. 

Winery: Ngeringa has been certified biodynamic for more than 20 years. It is the biodynamic process that creates a balanced and healthy relationship between soil, plant and all living beings – and opens the vines to optimum expression of flavour in the glass.

Technical Details:
Alcohol: 14.0% 
Grapes: Syrah (Shiraz)
Region: Adelaide Hills (Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia)  
Site(s): Ngeringa Summit Vineyard 
Winemaker: Erinn Klein 
Organic
Biodynamic
Vegan Friendly

(SKU: NG_ISY_18)