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Swinney Mourvedre 2022

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Swinney Mourvedre 2022
Producer Swinney
Region, Country Frankland River, Australia
Bottle Size 750ml
Case Size 6
Product Code 23016-750

The positive results of Swinney’s meticulous viticulture are, perhaps, felt most strongly in the Mourvèdre. Just a few years ago, Rob Mann was utilising this fruit in Swinney’s Mourvèdre Syrah Grenache bottling. Such was the quality that it became harder and harder to dilute this fruit, and last year the team took the plunge and bottled a straight Mourvèdre. Syrah (6%) and Grenache (4%) make a reappearance in 2022, but it’s very much in a supporting role—this is still the Mourvèdre show.

Swinney’s Mourvèdre is drawn from dry-grown bush vines on the Wilsons Pool vineyard which was planted in the early 2000s and has rich gravel/loam soils. The fruit for the 2022 was hand-picked over two days to optimise flavour and tannin maturity, then berry sorted and transferred to a single stainless-steel fermenter via gravity. A well-judged 20% whole-bunch portion was incorporated to highlight the “distinctive ferrous qualities, fine structure and wild spice” of the variety. This release spent 11 days on skins before being pressed to fine-grained, large-format French oak where it matured for 11 months.

Mann finds a real synergy with Mourvèdre in a cool region and a warm season. Working with the conditions, he picked earlier than the previous year, preserving freshness, vibrancy and mid-weight appeal. According to Mann, Swinney’s Mourvèdre is the wine that best expresses the site’s signature ferrous, rusty nail character; a trait this winemaker values and pursues in all his reds. The fruit shows beautiful white pepper spice, a wild edge, savoury depth and textural richness.

Swinney Mourvedre 2022

Reviews

“Hoo ah! Here’s a wild wine of emphatic personality. Blue fruit, white pepper and exotic spice, but also bloody and ferrous too. I’m thinking blood plum, dried orange peel offering a pleasingly biter cinch, chalky and chewy, so much dried herb and liquorice-laced meaty spicy goodness, smudgy and ashen, but kind of vibrant too, with a meaty/grainy/sappy finish of excellent length. A terrific expression of Mataro.”
95 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
“Superlative mourvèdre and certainly the leading light for the variety in Australia. Briny, chewy and gorgeous in its savory guise, this is a powerful expression bound to such a taut tannic fabric, underlain by spice and a tuft of dried herb, that there is not for a moment any excess of sweet fruit. Lots of chomp, depth and layers, oozing tapenade, saddle leather, sweet loamy earth, martini brine, menthol and violet notes, with raspberry bon-bon lurking. A wonderful wine deserving of serious praise and cellar time. Best after 2028. Screw cap.”
95 points, Ned Goodwin MW, jamessuckling.com
“This is a variety that is finding a safe, comfortable home in Frankland River. Lovely perfumed red fruits on the nose displaying a slightly earthy, dusty raspberry and light plummy character. The palate is soft and supple. It’s medium weight with a fine chalky ironstone thing treading through the palate. The cradle of tannins and fine oak, together with natural fruit energy holds a focussed long finish.”
95 points, rayjordanwine.com.au
"I'm such a big fan of this wine. As a variety, Mourvèdre can be a bit of a fickle beast in that it leans easily and readily into big, fleshy, earthy, purple fruited characters. It has the propensity for bolshiness. Yet in Frankland River and in the hands of Rob Mann at Swinney, Mourvèdre feels bright, exciting, fleshy, bloody, mineral, fine ... all the good things. Frankland is just so well suited to the variety, in my opinion. So, to the wine, this 2022 Mourvèdre leads with pink peppercorns, salted licorice, fresh blood and black pudding, mulberry, freshly turned earth and sea salt. The wine is mineral and almost steely, far finer and brighter even than the nose would suggest. This is a really exciting wine here. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
94 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

Reviews

“Hoo ah! Here’s a wild wine of emphatic personality. Blue fruit, white pepper and exotic spice, but also bloody and ferrous too. I’m thinking blood plum, dried orange peel offering a pleasingly biter cinch, chalky and chewy, so much dried herb and liquorice-laced meaty spicy goodness, smudgy and ashen, but kind of vibrant too, with a meaty/grainy/sappy finish of excellent length. A terrific expression of Mataro.”
95 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
“Superlative mourvèdre and certainly the leading light for the variety in Australia. Briny, chewy and gorgeous in its savory guise, this is a powerful expression bound to such a taut tannic fabric, underlain by spice and a tuft of dried herb, that there is not for a moment any excess of sweet fruit. Lots of chomp, depth and layers, oozing tapenade, saddle leather, sweet loamy earth, martini brine, menthol and violet notes, with raspberry bon-bon lurking. A wonderful wine deserving of serious praise and cellar time. Best after 2028. Screw cap.”
95 points, Ned Goodwin MW, jamessuckling.com
“This is a variety that is finding a safe, comfortable home in Frankland River. Lovely perfumed red fruits on the nose displaying a slightly earthy, dusty raspberry and light plummy character. The palate is soft and supple. It’s medium weight with a fine chalky ironstone thing treading through the palate. The cradle of tannins and fine oak, together with natural fruit energy holds a focussed long finish.”
95 points, rayjordanwine.com.au
"I'm such a big fan of this wine. As a variety, Mourvèdre can be a bit of a fickle beast in that it leans easily and readily into big, fleshy, earthy, purple fruited characters. It has the propensity for bolshiness. Yet in Frankland River and in the hands of Rob Mann at Swinney, Mourvèdre feels bright, exciting, fleshy, bloody, mineral, fine ... all the good things. Frankland is just so well suited to the variety, in my opinion. So, to the wine, this 2022 Mourvèdre leads with pink peppercorns, salted licorice, fresh blood and black pudding, mulberry, freshly turned earth and sea salt. The wine is mineral and almost steely, far finer and brighter even than the nose would suggest. This is a really exciting wine here. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
94 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

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