The second of two inaugural releases for the Longline label, brought to you by Paul Carpenter of Wirra Wirra fame. A quarter of the grapes come from a vineyard in the Adelaide Hills about four kilometres from Wirra Wirra with the rest sourced from a Blewitt Springs site next to the Yangarra Grenache vineyards - an area that feels like the Adelaide Hills as much as it does McLaren Vale anyway. It’s worth visiting just to get a sense of that.
It smells and tastes of jubey black fruits, mulberry, violets, vanilla and licorice. Some coffee grounds and assorted spice for good measure. Animated with plenty of vitality as well as some firm, fine tannin. A kind of saline minerality runs through it. I like the sense of flow here. A notch above medium-bodied, never cumbersome. 92
Region: McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills
Alcohol: 14.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $26
Tasted: November 2013
Email: carps@longlinewines.com.au