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.