For the past 30 years, boutique winery The Lane has been crafting elegant, vibrant wines that truly express the local region. And this producer just got even more Aussie. Last month The Lane returned to Australian hands, with current CEO Jared Stringer becoming a shareholder, alongside a local Adelaide Hills investor. Under Jared’s stewardship, which began in 2019, The Lane has gone from strength to strength, establishing itself as one of the most iconic wineries in the country. With this recent change in ownership, it is now firmly in the hands of the man who loves and knows it best. We caught up with him on a recent visit to the UK.

Interview with Jared Stringer – The Lane on Vimeo

What is it that attracted you to The Lane?

The Adelaide Hills is one of my favourite regions in the world. The Lane happens to be one of the earliest pioneers of the Adelaide Hills region, where we make some beautiful examples of cool-climate wines: Chardonnay, Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris.

What particularly attracted me to The Lane was its reputation for making those beautiful wines and it being one of the pillars of the Adelaide Hills wine region.

How does the Adelaide Hills region differ from other wine-producing areas in Australia?

In the scheme of Australian winemaking, the Adelaide Hills is very much a cool climate region, by Australian standards. We’ve got beautiful, cool nights and reasonably warm days, but it’s those beautiful cool nights that allow us to produce some exceptional examples of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz, because we retain a lot of natural acidity and the grapes are left on the vine for that much longer. They develop a beautiful flavour.

We’ve got quite a unique climate in the hills. Quite high rainfall, lots of different topography, various aspects — north, south, east, west — which gives us the ability to grow different styles in different pockets, which we have a myriad of at The Lane in particular, at our estate. And the Adelaide Hills for us is such a beautiful region because we’re not bound by tradition. We’re able to grow lots of different styles, lots of different grapes, and make lots of different wines that truly suit our unique place in Australian winemaking. For me one of the most beautiful things about the Adelaide Hills, and certainly about The Lane, is what we’re able to produce, which I think competes with some of the best wines in the world.

If you could choose a wine that sets The Lane apart, what would it be?

I can’t choose one wine, but I can certainly choose one variety and that is Chardonnay. As a winemaker, it’s my favourite grape to make wine with. It’s also my favourite wine to drink. And as far as The Lane’s concerned, I think it’s what we do as best as anyone in the world. We’ve got beautiful Chardonnay blocks across our estate, with different aspects and different clones, which all produce a unique style in itself and it gives us and the winemaking team the ability to blend different clones from different aspects, and the different cooperages we use add interest, layers and texture.

It’s a variety that I think the Adelaide Hills as a region does incredibly well. And for The Lane, having been doing it for more than 30 years now, it’s what’s put us on the map as far as a winery is concerned. We make three different tiers of Chardonnay, through our Lane Series Chardonnay, the Estate and then the Heritage, and they all showcase unique aspects and unique individual characteristics from the blocks that were grown, and they show that true sense of place. So for me, it has to be The Lane’s Chardonnay.

As a member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, what key initiatives do you focus on?

I think Sustainable Winegrowing Australia is an incredibly important initiative that Australian winemakers have pioneered in the last decade, which works really well for us in that it’s different to organic principles, it’s different to biodynamic principles. Those principles are important, but SWA, or Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, takes parts of all those great initiatives and combines them into one; it reflects our holistic approach.

Organic and biodynamic principles are very much vineyard-focussed, which is really important, but Sustainable Winegrowing Australia is also about what we’re doing in terms of reducing our carbon footprint with respect to our packaging, how we’re using machinery, as well as how much paper we’re using, and all these various things that I think are incredibly important for a whole wine business, not just grape growing.

The Lane was certified several years ago, and I think it’s one incredibly important step for us to make sure that we’re leaving this place in better shape than when we found it, we’re treading lighter on the environment, and we’re setting up for the next generation. As I say, for me it takes in a lot of the best aspects of both grape growing and winemaking, and then retailing and selling those wines as well. So I think it’s a better approach to do things with all of those in mind, and not just solely focussing on one particular area.

For The Lane, that can be things like introducing sheep in our vineyard to reduce our herbicide use. We have fish in our dams (trout), which means that we don’t have to add any chemicals to our water to filter it. We’ve gone paperless in our business, utilising a lot more of our online capability for our office and our buildings. We’ve gone into recycled packaging for our wine cartons and wine labels, and we use lightweight glass as well. So lots of different initiatives to ensure that we’re being as sustainable as we possibly can.

When you are not at the winery, what might we find you doing?

I’ve got a very energetic three-year-old, Laurie, so he keeps my wife and I on our toes! But we’re very fortunate, my wife and I run a cattle farm not far from the vineyard, only 10 minutes down the road in the Adelaide Hills. We farm Angus cattle, which regularly feature on the menu in our restaurant at The Lane. So if you’re visiting, I’d highly recommend a visit to our restaurant and our beautiful winery in the Adelaide Hills. So the farm certainly keeps me very busy and then when I’m not on the farm we like to travel, so we spend a lot of time abroad; trying to eat beautiful food and drink lovely wine is what we do the most. So that’s generally where you’ll find me!