2025 Swinney Grenache, Frankland River

This has some get up and go. An energetic red wine with vibrancy of red-berry fruitiness, green olive saline-savouriness, a little tickle of watermelon juice and rosehip tea, licks of vineyard-specific, ferrous, sweet earthiness between the bouquet and palate. There's great perfume here, quite a bit of spice in it, and florals, too. The flavours are more subdued in that regard, but there are magnificent riffs of crushed-rock tannin that weave through the juice of the wine, and it's refreshing in its lengthy, chompy finish. A savoury wine of great satisfaction, elevating grenache's seriousness credentials from WA once again. Ludicrously good. Drink to 2034.

96 points & Special Value Mike Bennie for Halliday Wine Companion, September 2026

A chewy, detailed and effortlessly powerful wine. Dried petals, raspberry liquorice and cinnamon-dusted strawberries. There’s a squirt of orange oil too. I’m glad I had the chance to look at this over a few days, the aromatics were at their best on day three. In the mouth, it’s taut and pure, with rhubarb and raspberry cocooned in paperbark and clove, leading to a pleasantly bitter finish. The black tea tannins are rugged. And there are plenty of them. It’s raw and youthful. Sassy, but intelligent. A wine with a fruit profile that’s easy to love, yet a structure for the educated drinker. Please, for me, don’t drink this without decanting it first. And have some protein nearby. Drink to 2040.

95 points Cyndal Petty for Wine Pilot, September 2026

The team’s Grenache has certainly proven to be the surprise card in their pack. In the early days, one doubts that anyone was really convinced that they would reach the heights they have managed. Whilst the famous examples of this variety from traditional regions are certainly not to be discounted, don’t miss trying what they have achieved here. It is also excellent value. From Frankland River fruit. A gleaming crimson with a ruby rim, there is a beautifully fragrant nose. There are notes of raspberries, cherries and cream, a touch of blueberries, florals, notably rose petals, and bay leaves. This is a surprising and alternative perspective on Grenache and not to be missed. The wine is finely balanced with great focus and a lingering finish, with a seductive and sleek texture and very good length. Seamless in style with juicy acidity, this will drink beautifully for the next decade. Drink to 2036.

95 points Ken Gargett for Wine Pilot, September 2026

Delightfully fragrant, perfumed grenache that delivers medium weight but generous fruit intensity. Nice red fruits on the nose, some rose petal and a trace of lavender. The palate is more medium-bodied, beautifully smooth and supple, with this lovely raspberry fruit character dominant. So beautifully bright and vibrant, with a lively, long and focused finish.

94 points Ray Jordan Wine Review 2027

The Swinney family have been farmers in the Frankland River area of the Great Southern region in WA since 1922. The large 2,500-hectare property was originally purely devoted to livestock grazing, with the first vines planted in the late 1990s.

Today, fourth-generation siblings Matt and Janelle are steering the family business, and their much-enlarged vineyard is a respected supplier of premium contract-grown fruit to numerous Western Australian wineries managed by a team led by viticulturist Rhys Thomas. It is also the source for the uniformly excellent Swinney wines made by the talented Rob Mann.