2020 Swinney Mourvèdre Syrah Grenache, Frankland River

46/29/21/4% mourvèdre/syrah/grenache/mencia. Hand picked and co-fermented. 54% whole bunches, wild ferment, matured for 11 months on fine lees in large-format French oak (8% new). The mourvèdre just has such beautiful tannins and shape. Gloriously earthy, gravelly yet fine, it underpins the success of the other varieties and lends a real chew to the overall. Beautiful, supple, vibrant. With muscle.

96 points Special Value Erin Larkin winecompanion.com.au December 2021

Around half is whole bunch, all of it is wild fermented, there’s a splash of mencia in the mix (would love to see a 2020 single variety mencia off this site!). It’s been a cracker in the past, here’s the new release.
 
Blackcurrant jelly, graphite, old leather, woody spice abound in perfume. Flavours roll a similar way, more blueberry than blackcurrant though, juiciness chiseled into by ribs of mineral-charged tannin, some sooty spice and tobacco characters lending savouriness. Medium weight, tannin-shaped, long, firm, dusty, savoury. Such a great drink here with charisma, texture, tension and energy in spades. Serious stuff!
 
94 points Mike Bennie winefront.com.au  Aug 2021 Drink 2021 - 2035+

Limited. 38% Mourvèdre, 37% Syrah, 25% Grenache. Grenache has taken the early plaudits, yet the Swinney team are equally enthusiastic about their Mourvèdre. Like the Grenache, these are planted as bush vines. Indeed, Mann notes that Mourvèdre’s ascendency in 2019 will likely continue in future years. The block that gifts this field blend was harvested in a single pick and was then co-fermented. Mann used 65% whole bunches to build perfume and structure. The ferments spent up to two weeks on skins before being pressed directly to fine-grained large format French oak (only 9% new).

Taking nothing away from the Grenache and Syrah, Mann highlights this blend as his favorite Swinney red, as for him it’s the estate’s most vineyard-driven expression of time and place. Again, it’s very perfumed with violet and dark cherry notes, but there’s also a more inky, bloody edge to the fruit. In the mouth the wine is more generous than the straight Grenache but also more savoury, with the Mourvèdre bringing power, tannins and peppery, ferrous and dark spice notes. An exceptional wine of pristine youthfulness. Suffice to say, if this came from a top Rhône portfolio it would be twice the price.