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Bibendum Wine Co.
Bibendum Wine Co.
Bibendum Wine Co.

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Swinney Mourvedre 2021

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Swinney Mourvedre 2021
Swinney Mourvedre 2021
Producer Swinney
Region, Country Frankland River, Australia
Bottle Size 750ml
Case Size 6
Product Code 21131-750

Behind the scenes, the Swinney team have been brimming with enthusiasm about the evolution of their bush-vine Mourvèdre. Such was the quality being reached in the vineyard, early last year Rob Mann told us it was getting ever more difficult to dilute the Mourvèdre into the estate’s Mourvèdre Syrah Grenache bottling. 

And then this happened. Echoing what has been said many times about Swinney’s Grenache, we have never tasted a Mourvèdre of this depth, purity, and class from Australian shores. Swinney’s Mourvèdre is drawn from dry-grown bush vines on the Wilsons Pool vineyard’s rich gravel/loam soil (planted in the early 2000s). Again, these vines are grown using organic principles and picked over multiple passes to ensure perfect ripeness. 

The fruit for the 2021 was hand-picked over two days to optimise flavour and tannin maturity, then berry sorted and emptied into a single stainless-steel fermenter via gravity. A well-judged 22% whole-bunch was incorporated to highlight the “distinctive ferrous qualities, fine structure and wild spice” (Mann) of the variety. This release spent 11 days on skins before being pressed to fine-grained large format French oak and was aged on lees in barrel for 11 months.

What a curtain raiser! Firstly, it’s wonderfully aromatic, all perfumed lift with dark berry and savoury intensity, earthy spices and bouquet garni. The palate is pure and precise, powered by restrained yet vibrant energy. It has a beautiful shape, with plump, silky and velvety fruits balanced by refreshing acidity and elegant tannins. Elegant tannins? Southern hemisphere Mourvèdre? You heard it here first. The finish is long and full of tension, with a savoury granitic twist. It’s a restrained and enticing Mourvèdre of the highest order. In just a few years, Swinney has set a new benchmark for Grenache and Syrah in Western Australia: now, they have done the same with Mourvèdre.



Swinney Mourvedre 2021
Swinney Mourvedre 2021

Reviews

“Very deep bright purple-red hue; the bouquet spicy, rusty iron, as well as chocolate-coated cherries, medium-full bodied and firm with a good solid backbone of tannin, and an earthy peppery, graphite kind of mineral note, savoury and concentrated, powerful and penetrating through a long palate. Superb, and it has potential to improve further with time.”
95 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
“This isn’t as peppery as the grenache but it’s yet loaded with spice. Dry, roasted spices, some eucalypt, some cloves, spark out from dark cherry, char, meat, leather and asphalt-like characters. It’s a heart of darkness with bright blood pumping through. Tannin is grainy, almost gritty, and earthen, and in keeping with the tone of the fruit. Long life ahead for this one.”
93+ points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
"Deep red/garnet colour. The nose is all exotic spices, florals, cherries, raspberries, black olives and warm handfuls of freshly turned earth. One can almost envisage Lang Hancock back in the day when he first grabbed a handful of that red soil. There is an appealing plushness to all this. A wine of mid-length, with fine acidity, there is real grip here. Leave it for three or four years to allow it to fully come together and reveal its glories at their best. Then drink it over the next six to ten years."
94 points, Ken Garget, Wine Pilot
"On the face of it, Frankland River is too cool to produce quality mourvèdre, but this is a most attractive wine. The aromas and fruit flavours are of sour and black cherries, backed by the finest tannins. It's light- to medium-bodied, and has very good length."
94 points, James Halliday, The Wine Companion

Reviews

“Very deep bright purple-red hue; the bouquet spicy, rusty iron, as well as chocolate-coated cherries, medium-full bodied and firm with a good solid backbone of tannin, and an earthy peppery, graphite kind of mineral note, savoury and concentrated, powerful and penetrating through a long palate. Superb, and it has potential to improve further with time.”
95 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
“This isn’t as peppery as the grenache but it’s yet loaded with spice. Dry, roasted spices, some eucalypt, some cloves, spark out from dark cherry, char, meat, leather and asphalt-like characters. It’s a heart of darkness with bright blood pumping through. Tannin is grainy, almost gritty, and earthen, and in keeping with the tone of the fruit. Long life ahead for this one.”
93+ points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
"Deep red/garnet colour. The nose is all exotic spices, florals, cherries, raspberries, black olives and warm handfuls of freshly turned earth. One can almost envisage Lang Hancock back in the day when he first grabbed a handful of that red soil. There is an appealing plushness to all this. A wine of mid-length, with fine acidity, there is real grip here. Leave it for three or four years to allow it to fully come together and reveal its glories at their best. Then drink it over the next six to ten years."
94 points, Ken Garget, Wine Pilot
"On the face of it, Frankland River is too cool to produce quality mourvèdre, but this is a most attractive wine. The aromas and fruit flavours are of sour and black cherries, backed by the finest tannins. It's light- to medium-bodied, and has very good length."
94 points, James Halliday, The Wine Companion

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