2019 Swinney Grenache, Frankland River
A$38.00
Availability:
Out of stock
SKU
B18901V19
In the late 1990’s Grenache was hardly known in Western Australia, let alone in Great Southern. But, with a love of top Southern Rhône and Priorat wines, Matt Swinney had a hunch and went ahead and planted Great Southern’s first bush vine Grenache vineyard. He did so with massale cuttings provided by David Hohnen, giving his new bush vines pride of place on the site’s hilltops. As it turns out, Swinney was onto something. Today these bush vines produce two remarkable and completely original Grenache-based wines, with a quality that can be traced directly to the unique site and Swinney’s farming philosophy.
Only selected fruit goes into both this and the Farvie Grenache. After sorting, the fruit for the 2019 went into sealed fermenters for 10 days to get some carbonic maceration happening. The must was then gravity-fed into mostly wooden fermenters (both 1,600L and 600L with the heads knocked out) to finish naturally. Roughly 16% whole bunches were used and there was an addition of 14% bush vine Mourvèdre (co-fermented). The wine spent two weeks on skins with the ferments getting as warm as 30 degrees, before being pressed directly to large format French oak for 10 months.
There’s no new oak, and there’s no heaviness. Instead, this wine spins out a glowingly pure and savoury style of Grenache that is as unique as it is delicious. It’s so perfumed, with lavender, raspberry and an abundance of spice. The palate is precise, pure and long with some fabulous, fine tannins. It’s a wine that has drawn comparisons with top Barolo, leading Matt Swinney to exclaim, “I’m ok with that!”. This is simply outstanding.
Them tannins. Whoa. Italianate and fine, a swish and web that sucks and pulls, draws long and gives this beautiful shape to the mellifluous, come-hither dark fruit and wild herb n spice that features so heavily in this wine. Amazing perfume, a little quieter than 2018 but with all the appeal and flighty, floral and spice fragrance of best grenache from anywhere. Pent up, tight, precise and pure, the palate is a masterpiece example of the variety. That tension, that length! All here. Such a good wine.
96+ points Mike Bennie winefront.com.au
| Product/Service Sold Out | No |
|---|---|
| En Primeur | No |
| New Arrivals | No |
| Wine Type | Red Wine |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | Frankland River |
| Varietals | Grenache |
| Vintage | 2019 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Wine Points | 96-97 |
Write Your Own Review