Forty years ago Paul Carpenter's folks dragged him from Adelaide to the farming community of McLaren Vale. Longline fishing shaped Paul's early life but it was growing up in the beautiful horticulturally rich area of McLaren Vale that had the greatest impact.

20 years ago post a science degree Paul fell into a vintage cellar role for Geoff Merrill Wines, a local McLaren Vale producer. This job flicked a switch for him and that was the start of his love of wine and the making of it. In the years to follow, Paul has worked at a number of highly respected wineries including Wirra Wirra, and Hardy’s Tintara, in McLaren Vale and abroad in Beaujolais, Chateauneuf du Pape and Oregon in the USA.

Paul and his wife Martine started Longline Wines in 2012 with a small parcel of old vine dry grown Grenache and a Shiraz. The range has grown to today include a Grenache Rose and Grenache,Shiraz, Mouvedre Blend.

The aim of the project is to produce distinctive wines that represent the best pockets of McLaren Vale. The fruit is sourced from vineyard sites selected from two decades of walking vineyards in these two great regions. The vineyard parcels come from growers who understand their sites and what it takes to grow outstanding fruit. The wines are made entirely by Paul and his family, every plunge of the ferments and every barrel filled and emptied. The ambition is to produce small parcels of wines of great interest and complexity that exhibit the true qualities of the vineyards.

Paul is a self- diagnosed Grenache nut, a diagnosis supported by all who know him, the range of wines show great vibrancy of fruit with structural finesse.