Swinney Syrah 2023

Description

Siblings Matt and Janelle Swinney have created something very special in the Frankland River region of the Great Southern in WA. The vineyards are part of remote and isolated 2,500 (approx. 6,000 acres) hectare grape growing and grazing property which has been the home of the Swinney family for four generations.

George John Alexander Swinney was a pioneer of the Frankland River Region and settled at ‘Franklands’ in 1922. The ‘Franklands’ property sit on ironstone gravel hill tops above the Frankland River and produce wines that have a distinctly ferrous character – a character strongly associated with the highest quality Frankland River fruit.

Bush vine viticulture is their passion and, with the right site selection and varieties, produces some of the most site-specific fruit you will see. Growing vines this way is labour intensive and requires a lot of dedication and patience – everything must be done by hand, but the lower yield and greater effort is worth the effort!  Low-yielding and growing naturally without trellising, bush vines are a rarity in Western Australia and exemplify the Swinney’s long term commitment to producing wines that are a true expression of their unique sites and variety and in as natural and unforced manner as possible.

Winemaker, Rob Mann (grandson of the legendary Jack Mann—the godfather of Western Australian wine)– joined the Swinney team in 2018, whose philosophy is simple—to reflect and preserve the personality of each individual vineyard site. To achieve this, we harvest by hand—often with multiple passes over the same vine—fruit and berry sort and co-ferment where possible.

“There is no question that this vineyard and the style being crafted under one of Australia’s finest winemakers, Rob Mann, have redefined syrah and grenache. These are now the established benchmarks and should be on the buy-now list for anyone with an interest in contemporary Australian wine.” Ray Jordan, The West Australian, 2021

When Matt and Janelle Swinney first decided to plant Grenache and Mourvèdre, many questioned their wisdom, saying the grapes wouldn’t ripen. As it turned out, under Swinney’s uncompromising management, this cool, ironstone pocket of Frankland River now looks like the promised land for these Mediterranean varieties.

Swinney was named 2020 Vineyard of the Year in the inaugural Young Gun of Wine Australian Vineyard of the Year Awards. “The scale of the vineyard, coupled with their pinpoint focus and pursuit of innovation, and the quality of the resulting wines, is truly extraordinary and inspiring”, the judges said.

Over the years, Rob Mann has been steadily increasing his use of whole bunch in his red wines. This is especially true for his Syrah. By now you will know that this is a vigneron that seeks freshness, spice and structure in his reds—features he finds heightened in Syrah through careful use of whole bunches.

Swinney’s benchmark Syrah is hand-harvested from select parcels in the Wilsons Pool and Powderbark vineyards. Unlike the Grenache and Mourvèdre, the Syrah is trellised—although there are plans afoot for some single-stake Syrah. The sites are planted to various clones, including 470, Waldron and Jack Mann’s heritage mass-selection Syrah. Each clone gives a different bunch structure. Combined with the estate’s use of shade cloth to shield the fruit from the harsh afternoon rays, this helps build layers of structural complexity in the final wine. The cloth also creates soft, mottled light, lowers the temperature in the bunch zone and preserves freshness, spice and typicity (varietal and regional) in the fruit.

The berries were sorted into small wooden and stainless-steel fermenters via gravity. A well-integrated 22% bunch component was included to build structure and texture, providing a robust frame for the lustrous fruit. The 2023 spent 12 days on skins before being pressed directly to 600-litre fine-grained demi-muids (7% new) for 11 months. Purple flowers and ripe forest fruits are underlaid with black olive, hung meat and graphite. The palate is peppery, bloody and juicy, with a sense of coiled power. It maintains terrific tension with assertive, minerally tannins and plenty held in reserve.

About this wine from the winemaker:”Deep vibrant purple Vibrant and perfumed with salted liquorice, black pepper and nori Medium to full bodied with distinctive fennel seed and schezuan pepper complimenting the mulberry and blueberry fruit. Satisfying long with a coolness to the palate and fine structured tannins.”

96 points, Ray Jordan “This excellent syrah includes the newly introduced clones 470 and 171, which contribute to a new level of complexity. It’s been made with a light winemaker’s touch and only a tiny amount of new French oak to spice things up. There is structure here diving deep into the medium bodied highly perfumed and supple fruit characters. Spices and a little of the ferrous personality adds to the complexity. Brilliant and bright with such a vibrant palate profile.” 

RRP $51   Our Special Price $43.99 when you buy 6 or more of this wine.