“The Swinney vineyard represents modern viticulture interwoven with Old-World techniques, executed with precision through a combination of exhaustive manual work and state-of-the-art technology, and all underpinned by an environmental focus...and the quality of the resulting wines, is truly extraordinary and inspiring.” Young Gun of Wine, Inaugural Australian Vineyard of The Year 2020 As with every wine from this grower, the decision to produce a rosé was not taken lightly. Yes, Swinney could have released a rosé from any of their key varieties, which would have been delicious. But that is not how things work here. Could they produce a wine that would stand up to the world’s best examples? Could they make a rosé that would be simultaneously profound, and one that still spoke of its roots in Frankland River? In both cases, the answer is yes. It helps, of course, when your vineyard is home to some of Australia’s most exciting Mourvèdre, the varietal sine qua non to the world’s outstanding rosé wines—see Domaine Tempier, Pibarnon and others. Swinney’s early success with Grenache gave them the confidence to plant bush vine Mourvèdre (even though it tends to ripen later again) and farm it the same way. “We’re as excited about our Mourvèdre as our Grenache,” said Matt Swinney. “After pretty much using it in all our reds over the last few years, as it just adds so much verve, we concluded that from 2021 onwards, we needed to make a straight Mourvèdre. We needed to let it fly.” And fly it does: Swinney’s first varietal red was released from the 2021 vintage, and the quality of that harvest prompted a rosé trial. Built from the ground up, Swinney’s rosé is made from meticulously tended vines, explicitly managed to create this wine—as is the case for the top rosé producers of Southern France. Grown and made with no concessions—that is, with the same level of detail that goes into each of this grower’s wines—it’s beautifully perfumed, with a creamy texture and tight grip, backed by substance and structure.