Single Vineyard Summit Pinot Noir 2022

Winner Best Pinot Noir of Show, Adelaide Hills Wine Show 2024

Gold Medal Adelaide Hills Wine Show 2024

“Vibrant and expressive … pomegranate and ripe plum lead the fruit profile, with herbal notes, spice, minerality and a supple texture. A joyful wine – a textbook success of whole-bunch fermentation done right.”

Masahiko Iga, head sommelier, Victoria Racing Club 

Winemaker: Erinn Klein

Grape(s): Pinot Noir

GI: Adelaide Hills (Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia)

Site(s): Summit Vineyard

Vintage notes: Vintage 2022 was set up by a milder spring and summer with no severe heat spikes or extended hotter periods. Spring and early summer were wetter than usual resulting it good soil moisture and thus requiring only minimal irrigation just before picking.

Flowering and set were good, if we don’t compare them to the dream conditions we had for the 2021 vintage! We had a few disease challenges with warm, wet weather, particularly one event where the vines had wet leaves for three days around the 10th of January. Our vine health was good and therefore resilient to these challenging few days.

Finally, a long and slow ripening with cool conditions over harvest produced great delicate wines across all varieties.

Vineyard notes: The Pinot Noir grapes for this wine are from our east-facing Summit Vineyard which collects more of the morning sunlight and less of the intense, direct afternoon heat. Vineyard altitude ranges between 330m and 360m above sea level. Soils consist of sandy loam over red-orange clay, sandstone and ironstone. Grapes for our Single Vineyard Pinot Noir come from a small section in the middle of the vineyard where the balance of topsoil over the subsoil is optimal for vine balance, fruit flavour concentration and structure. The entire farm is certified Biodynamic and is farmed with the rhythms of nature, tending towards a self-sustaining system without the use of synthetic chemical inputs.

Winemaking: The Pinot Noir is gently hand harvested into small 15kg crates and mostly destemmed into small batch fermenters, 5% by weight of whole bunches aew placed in the bottom of each fermenter. The grapes are plunged by hand or feet, up to twice a daily for a gentle and long extraction over two to three weeks. The pinot was pressed into new (30%) French oak barriques (228L) and left in barrel to mature for 12 months.  A small dose of sulfur was added at blending prior to bottling. No Added yeast No enzymes, no fining.

Tasting note: A beguilingly nuanced Pinot. Vibrant red berries, and orange rind jump out of the glass, with layers of sandalwood, oregano, thyme, and cacao. The tannins are firm, but approachable, the acidity balanced. On the palate the red fruits and orange citrus are juicy and generous, with a complex earthy finish.

Closure: High quality composite cork that is cork-taint free guaranteed.

ABV: 13.4%

Label Design: Ngeringa bases its branding and imagery on its relationship with the land: The logo makes the shape of Mount Barker Summit and the icon, in a circle, makes reference to the full moon and to the biodynamic practice of working with the rhythms of nature. The sheoak sits inside the circle, reflecting the name, Ngeringa, the place of sheoak. Each bottle is individually numbered.

Production size: 364 six packs

Reviews

Deep Dive into Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir - Young Gun of Wines

Chosen in the top six wines of the tasting by Cazorla, Iga and Laffitte, this was celebrated for its poise, aromatic intensity, and textural finesse. “Lovely and intense aromas of cloves, cherry liquor and lavender,” said Cazorla. “The structure is smooth and coating … a concentrated palate of ripe cherry, nutmeg and brown mushroom with perfectly integrated wood and resonating depth.” Laffitte called it “beautifully dark and concentrated … dark cherries, leafy raspberry, sweet spice and a lift of Sichuan pepper. It’s already drinking extraordinarily well, but has great potential to age.” Iga described it as “vibrant and expressive … pomegranate and ripe plum lead the fruit profile, with herbal notes, spice, minerality and a supple texture. A joyful wine – a textbook success of whole-bunch fermentation done right.” One of the most complete and harmonious wines of the day.

Read the Full Review here