NGERINGA UNCULTURED Pinot Noir 2017

For years our philosophy has been to work with in the winery, adding sulphur to the wines as late as possible in the winemaking process, usually just before bottling to allow a natural evolution of the wines during elevage in barrel.

VINTAGE NOTES
The abiding climatic feature of note at the start of the 2016/17 season was rain: the Adelaide Hills recorded its largest annual rainfall in a quarter of a century – meaning the largest our vineyards have ever seen. Notably, a third of that rain fell in July and September, saturating soils as the vines for the start of the growing season*. The result of this moisture, along with usually low temperatures, was late budburst and flowering. High levels of soil moisture and continuing rains through spring meant that our vines needed no further irrigation. Dense leaf canopies increased disease pressure for many in our region, but our biodynamically-managed vineyards remained healthy, vibrant and largely pest free, carrying a good crop to harvest. We began picking with our happy band of French vineyard hands about three weeks later than usual, but that long, slower-than-usual development created fine ripe tannins, good concentration and loads of flavour across all of our varieties. In sum, 2017 was a dream vintage in many respects: terrific quantity, excellent quality and an extended harvest.

TASTING NOTES
A classic pinot fruit hit on the nose of glacé and sour cherries, spice and fine Italian herbs of oregano and thyme with s pinch of sappy resin from the whole bunch fermentation. On the mouth it is a fresh and bright, red berry fruit a hit of spiced cloves and cinnamon with length and elegance.

WINEMAKING NOTES
Made from 100% carbonic fermentation, matured in small French barrels.

VINEYARD
Grown on our steep easterly facing Summit vineyard slope at 360m above sea level on a delicate soil of sandy loam over clay. In the distance, this vineyard overlooks Lake Alexandrina and the Murray mouth, consequently receiving cooling evening breezes which do much to preserve our fruit acids and flavours through the critical weeks of ripening.

(SKU: NG_UPN_17)