My relationship with Australian Tempranillo has been uneasy at times but I’m beginning to warm to some of the examples that are crossing my path. This 2012 La Linea from the Adelaide Hills is a case in point.
It’s quite fleshy within an animated medium-bodied framework. Vibrant and abundantly spicy with savoury red fruits and some blackberry pastille notes. Hints of lavender and blonde pouch tobacco. A classy structural edifice suggests that it will grow into itself over the next few years but there’s no harm in decanting and tucking in now. 93
Region: Adelaide Hills
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $27
Tasted: January 2014
Jeremy,
Would this be the typical description of this varietal ?
It’s quite fleshy within an animated medium-bodied framework.
Many thanks
Colin r
Hi Colin – I think the varietal traits to hone in on are medium-bodied, spicy and perhaps some savouriness. It’s a low acid variety and most examples will be acidified to varying degrees of success – so more or less animated with the acidity sometimes sitting well in the wine as is the case here, sometimes presenting as sharp and separate or if there’s not enough the wine can feel “flat”. Oak incorporation varies wildly.