Description
About La Linea
La Linea is a collaboration between two highly experienced wine professionals: David LeMire MW and Peter Leske.
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 next step, 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.
Their first vintage was in 2007, after Peter could not get the imagined aroma and taste of a pale, dry, fine Tempranillo rosé out of his mind. He knew an Adelaide Hills vineyard which produced fruit perfect for the wine… and La Linea was born.
The team has also made dry red Tempranillo for over a decade, always in fundamentally the same style: medium-bodied, with the variety’s typical fleshy mid-palate, drying tannins, and lower alcohol than many contemporary Aussie reds. And a fragrant lift which is delicious!
While passionate about Tempranillo, the team is not entirely focussed on one variety. They are also well-known for the carefully ‘off-dry’ Vertigo ‘25GR’ Riesling, and since 2016 they have produced Mencia, grown near the winery at Lenswood. This variety has its home in north-western Spain, where it is traditionally made into a light, relatively fragrant red for early consumption.
The La Linea style is now well established: brilliant purple in colour with a powerful nose of white pepper and red berries, and a vibrant, crunchy palate.
The seasons turn… nature throws up new conditions… vines mature… wines are made. The La Linea team thrives on the grounding influence of grapegrowing and winemaking, where the cyclical nature of the seasons offers annual renewal and challenge.
