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Matt Swinney’s affection for the Southern Rhône and Priorat led him to plant bush-vine Grenache on Swinney’s ironstone hilltops in the 1990s. Grenache was hardly known in the state at the time, and there were many raised eyebrows in the region when the news got out. Matt’s hunch has since proved correct, and Swinney is now setting a new standard for Australian Grenache. Erin Larkin does not overstate the significance of Swinney’s wine, writing, “the Grenache, particularly, is a tremendously important wine not only in the context of this vineyard but of the Great Southern Region and, indeed, on a national level, for Australia.” Meanwhile, Max Allen has noted that, “the [Swinney] grenache, in particular, tastes like no other Australian example of this variety and will change perceptions of the Frankland region...”
Each year, the Swinney Grenache is picked by hand from the well-established, dry-grown bush vines on the Wilsons Pool vineyard’s rich gravel/loam soils. Each vine was passed over multiple times to harvest only perfectly ripe fruit. The bunches were then destemmed and sorted berry by berry. This year, Rob Mann worked with 40% bunches—bolstering the structural frame to balance the intensely aromatic, flavourful fruit—in a combination of small wooden fermenters and stainless-steel tanks. The wine spent two weeks on skins before being pressed to large (3600-litre), seasoned French wood for 11 months’ maturation. Sitting pretty in the red-fruited spectrum, Mann notes that the warmer conditions of 2024 were ideal for the Grenache, which, despite the conditions, recorded higher acidity than in any preceding vintage. That freshness has brought bags of clarity and energy to another unflinching Swinney Grenache.