NGERINGA Single Vineyard Summit Chardonnay 2020 750mL

The Chardonnay grapes are hand harvested gently into small 15kg crates then whole bunch pressed with minimal settling into new (30%) and old French oak barriques (228L). Fermentation begins spontaneously with wild yeast from our vineyards and winery, with full malolactic fermentation occurring naturally. Wines mature on full lees for 11 months with no battonage. A small dose of sulphur is added at blending, just prior to bottling. No enzymes, no fining, no filtration.
Closure: Natural Cork
ABV: 13.0%

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.