Swinney Farvie Syrah

 Normally, I do not like new wines coming onto the market as the next big thing, with a big price tag. However, Swinney has been around for quite some time, the property for 100 years. It has a large high quality vineyard at Frankland River, planted in 1998, and has supplied Margaret River royalty ever since. Highly regarded winemaker Rob Mann came on board in 2018, and the Swinney label was created.

Farvie is the premium label. This 2019 Swinney Farvie Syrah is the second vintage of this wine - and what a triumph it is! The colour is a deep intense purple.

The wine is named Syrah, and what follows is what is expected of a wine with this name - to a degree. Yes, the wine has cool climate characteristics of blueberry and blackberry fruits, black pepper, olive and licorice. At the same time, the wine is very concentrated. Great purity of fruit and a tension in the mouth created by firm, piercing tannins.

The mouthfeel is powerful, but the wine has some elegance as well, and a long finish. This is quite a profound wine. It could rate even higher, if it had a bit more charm.

Score: 96/+++

Swinney Farvie Grenache

 The  large Swinney vineyards near Frankland River in the south of Western Australia have been a significant source of fruit to the royalty of Margaret River for many years. The obvious question is, why not make wine ourselves? When the Shiraz and Grenache wines launched some years ago, they were welcomed with some fanfare, given the pedigree of the old vines. But how do they really stack up? I tried to find out with a bottle of the 2019 Swinney Farvie Grenache,  the second vintage of their premium wine. 

It is a dark version of Grenache, with black cherry, some gravelly and spice flavours. This is a full-bodied, muscular wine, with a whiff of alcohol on the finish. The wine is perhaps similar to the Cirillo 1850, not quite as round and aromatic. The wine has a savoury and firm finish. It is quite long with blocky tannins very present, probably thanks to the 12% Mourvedre in the wine.

There is clearly great fruit in this wine. The winemaking is good, but not excellent. I think there are a few little kinks to flatten out.

Score: 94/++

Swinney Grenache

 It is not often you come across a new winery in Australia which is outstanding. It just happened to me. This winery is Swinney. Maybe because it is located at Frankland River, WA, it took a while for me to notice.

The 2019 Swinney Grenache is terrific. They just avoided to name it Grenache/Mourvedre as it contains 14% of the latter (at 15% it needs to be labeled). There is a small amount of whole bunches in this wine, which is not fined and minimally filtered, with low sulphur levels.

The first thing that strikes you is the purity of fruit, which is a raspberry/cranberry/blackberry blend. This is quite a savoury wine, with smoky notes and a little spice. This is an elegant wine, with super fine grained tannins, perhaps a little linear in the mouth. The finish is extremely long. Wow! 

Score: 95/+++