The idea of La Linea hatched in Peter Leske’s head in late 2006, soon after leaving Nepenthe. He had been Winemaker at the super-premium Adelaide Hills company since its foundation just over a decade earlier. Contemplating his future, he found the aroma and taste of a dry, fine rosé made from Tempranillo grapes turning over and over in his mind. Imagining aromas and flavours that don’t exist can be frustrating – but it’s the winemaking equivalent of a melody forming in a songwriter’s brain; a melody which won’t go away until it’s played.
 
Leske needed to play.
 
Australia does not – yet – grow much Tempranillo, but in the vineyards of Spain it is almost everywhere. It is that country’s great red grape, and much like its equivalent in Australia , Shiraz , is made into a diverse range of wine styles, from crisp rosés produced for summer drinking, to robust, long-living reds.
 
Leske had made dry red Tempranillo from three different vineyards in the Adelaide Hills at Nepenthe over 5 vintages, and loved the variety’s character and structure. Its wines are not particularly deeply coloured, but quite tannic, and often have a powerful fragrance that makes it similar to Pinot noir.  His experience with the three vineyards suggested that – also like Pinot noir – the character of Tempranillo is strongly influenced by the site on which it is grown. One of the three vineyards, in the central Hills near Echunga, produced fruit which struck him as perfect for rosé ( click here to see some photos). Another, to the north of the region, in a warmer and drier location, was much more tannic and ideal for serious dry red.  And the growers were happy to provide some fruit.
 
Leske approached Kevin McCarthy, a mate from ‘waaaay back’ in student days in the early 1980s at Roseworthy College , to join him in establishing a new label specialising in Tempranillo. Kevin and partner Kathleen Quealy had established T’Gallant Wines on the Mornington Peninsula and forged a reputation for innovation as Australia ’s champions of the emerging variety Pinot Gris (also a long-term inclusion in the Nepenthe stable...).  But Kevin was otherwise occupied, and reluctantly declined the opportunity to be actively involved in La Linea . He is still vitally interested, and has lent a few words of advice and assistance along the way – but remains a spectator.
 
However, a mate of Kevin’s (from almost as far back... ), who must remain nameless (we’ll call him “007”), was interested in being more than that. A previous cellar-hand and winemaker who had since crossed to the Dark Side and taken up a series of significant roles in sales and marketing, 007 was the perfect partner.
 
La Linea ’s first wine was that rosé which played itself over and over in Peter’s mind. Released in September 2007, the 2007 La Linea Tempranillo rosé received extensive independent review and acclaim, and set the benchmark for the style in Australia . It is now being replaced on wine lists by the 2008 vintage version of the same wine; in many respects a carbon-copy, but also subtly different. Click here to see tasting the note for the new 08 rosé; click here to see the views of the critics; or click here if you want more information and images of the La Linea vineyards.

The team also made a dry red Tempranillo from the 2007 vintage. The fruit was sourced from that northerly, warmer and drier vineyard near Williamstown; picked at just-on 13° baumé, and hand-made using simple techniques: open fermenters, pleasantly ‘old’ (4 year-old) French oak barrels – in which the wine was aged for 11 months – and careful racking prior to bottling without fining in February 2008.

It is consciously less high in alcohol than many contemporary Aussie reds (just on 13% alcohol), and while medium-bodied, has Tempranillo’s typical fleshy mid-palate and drying tannins – what Gary Walsh of Wine Front recently described in a very positive review as “suede-like” ( click here for the whole story).

This ’07 dry red has since been replaced by the ’08... again, made with moderate alcohol, savoury tannins, and a fleshy mid-palate. However, this wine is not from the Kersbrook site, which struggled with the heat-wave that struck mid-vintage; instead, it is from the cooler Echunga site. Click here for more details, and the story of why the two sites behaved differently.

Along the way, the new La Linea efforts came to the attention of renowned wine expert – yes, that’s the best and only word – David LeMire (MW). If you are wondering, MW stands for Master of Wine – and if you click here, you can read the full story.

Riesling... and a new partner

While La Linea is all about Tempranillo, the team is not entirely focussed on one variety. Peter had been pondering making an off-dry Riesling from the Hills for a year or so... when in mid-07 mate and fellow wine tragic David LeMire mentioned that he also liked the idea. A few coffees, beers and wines later, a 2008 Riesling (with 25 grams per litre of residual sugar; it is therefore labelled as “25GR”) was released under the name ‘Vertigo’ – you know: fear of taking the plunge, and so on – and David formally joined as a p art ner in La Linea in 2008.

By the way, it’s fine to call David a wine tragic. Having worked for many years in wine importation, distribution and marketing, he recently became the world’s 264 th ‘Master of Wine’, or MW. If you don’t know what becoming an MW involves, The Advertiser told us this late last year:

“David LeMire MW pulls his nose out of a glass of Barossan red and stops to calculate how many wines he must have tasted on his way to being awarded the title of Master of Wine.

As the most recent South Australian to be accepted into the world's most exclusive wine club, the Adelaide wine industry consultant and educator figures it probably took about 5000 bottles over a couple of years.

The UK-based Institute of Masters of Wine's title of MW is considered to be one of the most exhaustive tests of an individual's international wine knowledge and tasting skills.

It involves sitting four theory exams and a series of detailed tastings, as well as completing an academically rigorous 10,000-word dissertation.”

What they don’t mention is the thousands of hours of study – and dollars! – that are also required to get you over the line. It is the vinous equivalent of the London Marathon – only harder. All in all, David is an extremely valuable addition to the La Linea team. His ideas, palate and experience are fantastic, and he has made a great addition to the initial two-man team. Click here to see more details of his background and experience.

The resultant wine? As mentioned above, it’s a consciously ‘off-dry’ Riesling from the Nepenthe Lenswood block, which Peter made into dry Riesling for his former masters for a decade.

Not being made from Tempranillo, it is very different in all respects from the La Linea wines, and so also has a different name. The tasting note explains what the ‘25GR’ designation means, and describes this innovative style.

It too has received the attention of the critics, and is set to become the definitive Adelaide Hills ‘Germanic’ Riesling style.