lino ramble

A simple premise, a simple plan... To break bread, share a glass and have a good old chin wag with some great people. This was the mantra we set out with when we first said “hey we should have a Grenache dinner to celebrate International Grenache day”. And after a few tweaks and re-interpretations, that is exactly what we ended up with on Friday the 19th September. The back drop to this was the stunning shop front and workshop that is home to The Props Dept and Justin Hermes Design. And a better place we could not have asked for to have our guests, no not guests, our friends, join us for dinner. First drop off the rack was Year Wines 2012 McLaren Vale Grenache and the words I heard a lot were “SO GOOD” (and not in reference the Delta Goodrem endorsed milk!). A beautiful way to start off the night - Luke and Caleigh make small batch Grenache from vines dating back to 1958 and the 2012 was their debut wine under their own label - and a pretty impressive one at that. [caption id="attachment_1350"

I love people who jump in and then find out how cold the water is, people who listen to that obscure concept album from an unknown Swedish black metal act before judging it. And I really love people who put their faith in a wine tasting where there is very little Shiraz and no Cabernet, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay or Riesling within cooee! In Europe this would have been a wine tasting, here in Adelaide it was a showcase of the less known! And as the many people who rocked into the National Wine Centre on Saturday came with eager faces it was clear that people are ready or at the least interested in something new. With help from some friends at Lino Ramble, 919 Wines, Chalk Hill, Coriole and Geoff Hardy we drew up a set list that included Dolcetto, Teroledgo, Petit Manseng, GSM’s and Rousanne Marsanne Viognier amongst others. For good measure the guys at Chalk hill (in between trying to stitch up Andy from Lino with a very very peppery - literally - glass of wine!) were kind enough to showcase

The Ludo Rousanne 58% Marsanne 26%  Viognier 16% is textural blend that is full of luscious fruit and creamy goodness that shows off the winemakers skill in blending to keep the wine from over richness. There’s enough citrus zing here to balance the textural depth of the wine.  Hand picked from Leconfield’s Little Road Block  off 12 year old vines the grapes are then whole bunch pressed before spending 10 months in old French oak. 

More rock collaboration between David Bowie and well anyone, Andy Coppard and Angela Townsends Lino Ramble 2012 vintage was their debut and it’s definitely more Under Pressure than Kiss and Michael Bolton’s  1989  power-ballad Forever. At just over a year old, Lino Ramble encapsulates all that winemaking should be about - finding good fruit and turning it into beautiful wine with minimal fuss and minimal handling.  As with a number of their contemporaries, Andy and Angela have spent many a year working for someone else until the opportunity came by to take the leap of faith that is putting your money where your mouth is, and boy have they the mouth to back up the money. Currently on the greatest hits list for Lino is the Treadlie GSM and the Ludo