2023 Swinney Mourvèdre Rosé, Frankland River

Swinney's exceptional mourvèdre in rosé form. It's a pale, dry and savoury style, feels concentrated in fruit character, spicy, and imbued with an interesting almost nutty/salty element that feels unique and compelling. Violet floral lift, red cherry, some faint game meat notes in bouquet and palate, too. Good textural experience in slinky, juicy upfront with some fine, powdery tannin to finish. Complex expression, is the takeaway.

93 points MB winecompanion.com.au

As with every wine from this grower, the decision to produce a rosé was not taken lightly. Yes, Swinney could have released a rosé from any of their key varieties, which would have been delicious. But that is not how things work here. Could they produce a wine that would stand up to the world’s best examples? Could they make a rosé that would be simultaneously profound, and one that still spoke of its roots in Frankland River? In both cases, the answer is yes. 
 
It helps, of course, when your vineyard is home to some of Australia’s most exciting Mourvèdre, the varietal sine qua non to the world’s outstanding rosé wines—see Domaine Tempier, Pibarnon and others. Built from the ground up, Swinney’s rosé is made from meticulously tended vines, explicitly managed to create this wine—as is the case for the top rosé producers of Southern France. Grown and made with no concessions—that is, with the same level of detail that goes into each of this grower’s wines—it’s beautifully perfumed, with a creamy texture and tight grip, backed by substance and structure.