2024 Swinney Farvie Mourvedre, Frankland River

The colour is deeper and richer than the grenache. Loads of punchy dark fruit characters, with that distinctive ironstone character which is evident in the grenache but not to the same extent. There’s an earthy gamey meat charcuterie character on the nose. The palate has a deep intensity. It’s a structured wine showing the firmness of the tannins. As it breathed, the seductive perfumed florals of this variety started to emerge. When I tasted it the next day, they were even more profound, suggesting great things ahead. Another example of how Farvie is pushing this Rhone variety into rarefied air among the world’s best.

97 points Ray Jordan rayJordanwine.com.au

This is not simply one of the best examples of Mourvèdre from Australia, it’s one of the best in the world. Cracking stuff. The wine spends two weeks on skins before maturing for eleven months in large format, older French oak. Deep maroon hue, the nose reveals notes of cassis, blackberries, plums, some fleshy notes, smoked meats, chocolate, dried herbs and a touch of fruitcake. There is a silky texture through to satiny tannins along with very good length. A supple style, this is nicely balanced and the oak has been deftly handled. A fifteen-to-twenty-five-year proposition.

97 points Ken Gargett winepilot.com

This is a super-polished Mourvèdre, unlike the mightier styles found in South Australia and beyond.  It glides over the palate, leaving velvety, red-fruited flourishes, spiked with discreet, cleansing minerality, but at no point is it edgy or scouring.  For a bright, youthful, and urgent red wine, with only two years under its belt, it is, surprisingly, ready to go with its neat, formal finish.  As it opens in the glass, further hints of fig, red fruits, violets and fresh tobacco billow.  And I noticed another enchanting fact about this wine.  On the second day of tasting (I always go back to important wines over a couple of days to see how they evolve), the bottle was rather chilly to the touch, as I had left it in a cool spot in my kitchen.  This diminuendo in temperature heightened the drama immeasurably in the glass, which was rather exciting.  My advice when you launch into this trio, as you surely should drink all three side by side, is to start here, with this bottle three or four degrees cooler than the other two (at near as dammit ‘cellar temperature’) and wait for your senses to catapult into action.

18.5/20 points Matthew Jukes matthewjukes.com

Winemaker Rob Mann describes the Mourvèdre as “the most audacious, emotive wine” of the Farvie trio. It’s crafted from a draconian selection of dry-grown bush-vine bunches on the same kidney-shaped patch of dirt as the Farvie Grenache vines in the Wilson’s Pool Vineyard. The vines here face northeast on leaner topsoil and with a higher percentage of coarse lateritic gravel; the roots have now made it down into the clay beneath. Meticulous fruit-thinning and selective hand-harvesting over multiple passes ensure Swinney achieves fruit that is as close to perfect as possible.

According to Mann, the Farvie Mourvèdre works beautifully with stem inclusion. “It helps to balance the wildness, gaminess and rustiness of the fruit while accentuating the spice element of the wine.” Fermented with 100% whole bunches, the wine spent 14 days on skins before being pressed to large, fine-grained, seasoned French oak vessels, where it matured for 11 months. It’s the wildest, most intoxicating of the three Farvie wines, compared, by the maker, to a deep dive into a 600-page novel. 13.6% alcohol.

From ancient bush vines planted in the 1950s, this Mourvèdre is one of the great outliers of modern Australian wine, proving how powerful the variety can be in a cool continental climate. The Farvie vineyard sits on ironstone gravel in Frankland River, where warm days and freezing nights stretch the growing season and build extraordinary flavour without losing acidity. Swinney treats these old vines as a cultural asset, farming with obsessive detail to preserve their intensity and natural balance.

Winemaking is tuned to highlight savoury complexity rather than weight. Whole bunch inclusion and gentle handling emphasise spice, earth and floral lift, while careful élevage refines the formidable tannin structure. The wine is built architecturally, designed to age for decades rather than chase early softness.

Deep garnet in colour, the aromas open with blackberry, plum and mulberry layered with dried herbs, pepper, smoked meat and wild flowers. There is a feral, earthy perfume that is unmistakably Mourvèdre. The palate is full bodied and tightly structured, with dense dark fruit wrapped in powerful, chalky tannins and bright acidity. Flavours of black fruit, olive and savoury spice run long through a dry, gripping finish that feels endless.

It pairs beautifully with slow braised meats, game, lamb and deeply savoury dishes. While already fascinating with extended air, it will cellar effortlessly for twenty years or more, developing leather, truffle and earthy complexity.