The Swinney Vineyard sits on the family property in Western Australia’s remote Frankland River region. The land, with the Frankland River running through the heart of it, was settled by George Swinney in 1922, with viticulture not on the family radar until the end of the 20th century. The 2,500 property had been primarily used for grazing until the first vines were committed to the gravel and loam soils in 1998.
Dominated by shiraz and cabernet sauvignon, the 160-hectare vineyard also has much smaller but still significant plantings of riesling, semillon, chardonnay, grenache, gewürztraminer, pinot gris and mourvèdre, with smaller amounts of tempranillo, viognier and vermentino, and slivers of mencia, counoise and cinsault. The bulk of the vineyard was planted in 1998 and 2004, with smaller additions made in ’08 and ’09.
The Swinney family began their foray into viticulture as growers, leaving the making to others, but that has evolved into their own brand, with riesling, shiraz and grenache at the fore. Those wines are made by no less than Rob Mann, grandson of the great Jack Mann, who is one of the West’s most sought-after winemaking talents. But the Swinneys have been no less careful about who they entrusted their vines to, with celebrated viticulturist Lee Haselgrove taking on the management role back in 2013 after having consulted there for a decade.
97+ Points Wine Advocate
The 2021 Farvie Syrah is lighter and finer than the Mourvèdre, yet it is darker in the glass and more mouthfilling. I suppose, in some ways, the flavour profile here is more expected, yet the tannic structure of the thing is more refined and sleek than I have seen in previous vintages. There are notes of blackberry, star anise, iodine, blueberry, licorice and a slash of bone broth. It also has black pepper and aniseed, but not in the warm-climate framework that we are used to seeing/experiencing from regions like Barossa or McLaren Vale. It is odious to compare, I concede, but important from a contextual standpoint. This is Frankland, with its own signature. It is a profoundly elegant wine now, but it will only be better, more complex, more svelte and more complete as time wears on.
