Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Mourvèdre 2023

This wine comes from the oldest plantings of Mourvèdre in Frankland River, planted in 2004. In the early years, we used it mainly as a blending addition for Shiraz. But for the past handful of years, the vines have produced the exciting flavours and intensity that make them worthy of the Isolation Ridge name.

The grapes were picked late in the cool, slow growing season of 2023 and have produced a wine of power and elegance. The fruit fermented in one open fermenter for 15 days. The wine matured on lees in older French oak puncheons for 13 months. The wine highlights what we can do with this variety in a cooler climate, achieving perfect ripeness with a brighter fruit spectrum and more medium-bodied guise than Australian renditions from warmer conditions. 110 dozen made.

The attractive medium ruby colour presages an invitingly red-tinged impression on the nose: Nebbiolo- like aromas of roses, pippy raspberry, red cherry, orange peel and clean terracotta. Then there are the more typical Mourvèdre and Isolation Ridge signatures: salumi, blueberry, cumin and a ferrous edge. The palate is medium-bodied with superb composition and an even break; fresh-fruited, juicy and channelled with the flecks of exotic flavours that the site brings out in this variety. Again, it's hard to ignore the delightful surprise of Piedmont echoes with plenty of spicy, rusty-iron terracotta tannin, meshed and constant, allied to ripe acidity that carries buoyant flavours long through the finish.