Swinney’s thoroughbred rosé shot out of the stalls faster than Black Caviar. “It’s one of Australia’s greatest rosés,” wrote Erin Larkin of Swinney’s debut in 2022. “I love this wine, and this vintage is no exception,” she said of the follow-up, which UK wine writer Matthew Jukes described as “nothing short of breathtaking”. “I have never tasted a finer Australian rosé,” he added. It helps to have quality genetics. Swinney’s Mourvèdre-based rosé is drawn from the same soils that won the estate the inaugural YGOW Vineyard of the Year award in 2021 and the same meticulously farmed bush vines that, in Mike Bennie’s words, produce “A strong candidate for best Mourvèdre in this land.” As for the 2024 release, it may just be the most impressive release yet. The 2024 season was one of Frankland River’s warmest and driest on record—the kind of season in which Mourvèdre thrives. Born in Spain as Monastrell, it hugs the Mediterranean coast, basking in the sun all the way round to Bandol—home to the world’s most admired rosé wines. The French even have a saying that Mourvèdre expresses itself best when it has “its feet in the water and its head in the sun.” The warm, sun-kissed season, combined with the quality of the Swinney fruit, has translated to their most striking release yet. 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 a beautifully perfumed wine with the flavour intensity, textural richness, lingering detail and nuance that one finds in the world’s finest rosé wines. It’s everything a great rosé should be, and then something more.