2025 Swinney Mourvedre, Frankland River

This Rhône variety has really found a home in Frankland, and this is another compelling example of the variety. Lovely savoury, mineral notes float across some nice red fruits, with a subtle ironstone edge. The palate is generous but supple, with that fine thread of chalky tannins supported by very gentle oak, handling and controlling the fruit through to a long finish. It's a wine of remarkable complexity and juiciness, with those ripe red fruits and a little blue-fruit character filling out the palate.

95 points Ray Jordan Wine Review 2027

This has some mettle for the variety. It opens with violet florals, some lavender, a touch of salumi, cherry cola, salt bush, thyme and black pepper. There's a meaty profile to the flavours and richness, but a gravelly burr in the texture. Medium weight, a little sweet earthiness in the taste ledger, lots of dark cherry, a touch of boysenberry and a bit of salted plum. A sinewy pluck to tannin and a faintly minty finish make for a fresh finish. It's very nice drinking. Drink to 2031.

94 points Mike Bennie for Halliday Wine Companion, September 2026

With ripe black fruit and aromas of blackberry jubes hitting first, this is a pretty sleek Mourvèdre. Don’t fret though, there’s plenty of salami and blood sausage underneath. In the mouth, the fruit is tart and bouncy, with raging, sticky tannins and a lovely, effortless flow. The thing about Swinney is that they are meticulous in the vineyard, and this wine is a great example: varietal typicity and pristine fruit are evident before you even begin to ponder winemaking intervention. The finish is slightly charry. Drink with a thick-ass steak and a kick-ass friend. 

94 points Cyndal Petty for Wine Pilot, September 2026

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.