DubStyle

Wines from Inkwell’s vineyard are originals; estate wines made only from grapes grown on the California Road vineyard. They are a high wire act—made without the safety net of blending from multiple vineyards and produced ‘wild’ (without additions) on site. Few wines are made with this focus and integrity of expression.

Having said all that, Irina and Dudley started making some ‘other’ wines from friends’ vineyards in 2012. The results encouraged them to wander a bit further in the following vintages. Like kids on an adventure, they forgot to look back! On 1 May (International Red Day), they tied these loose strands together and released a new non-estate label—DubStyle.

Jamaican producers revolutionised music in the late 1960’s when they made double (or ‘dub’) versions of hit songs by removing the vocal track and bumping up the bass and drum tracks; often for deejays to ‘toast’ new lyrics over later. This breakthrough influenced genres of music worldwide including rap, hip hop and house music. Wine from DubStyle shares the same idea— Dudley and Irina make dub versions of traditional varieties and blends from great vineyards and add their own new track to them by picking earlier than most and producing in a slow, all natural way to reveal unique, fresh flavors and textures.

By fermenting only whole fruit and bunches, they pump up the bass and the drums. The DubStyle flavors are in the savory, spicy (think nutmeg, dark berry and bramble) spectrum with complex aromatics and ultra-fine tannins played over a McLaren Vale rhythm. While made to drink now, they are serious wines to accompany food that can be cellared for a number of years.