Swinney Mourvèdre 2022

The positive results of Swinney’s meticulous viticulture are, perhaps, felt most strongly in the Mourvèdre. Just a few years ago, Rob Mann was utilising this fruit in Swinney’s Mourvèdre Syrah Grenache bottling. Such was the quality that it became harder and harder to dilute this fruit, and last year the team took the plunge and bottled a straight Mourvèdre. Syrah (6%) and Grenache (4%) make a reappearance in 2022, but it’s very much in a supporting role—this is still the Mourvèdre show.

Swinney’s Mourvèdre is drawn from dry-grown bush vines on the Wilsons Pool vineyard which was planted in the early 2000s and has rich gravel/loam soils. The fruit for the 2022 was hand-picked over two days to optimise flavour and tannin maturity, then berry sorted and transferred to a single stainless-steel fermenter via gravity. A well-judged 20% whole-bunch portion was incorporated to highlight the “distinctive ferrous qualities, fine structure and wild spice” of the variety. This release spent 11 days on skins before being pressed to fine-grained, large-format French oak where it matured for 11 months.

Mann finds a real synergy with Mourvèdre in a cool region and a warm season. Working with the conditions, he picked earlier than the previous year, preserving freshness, vibrancy and mid-weight appeal. According to Mann, Swinney’s Mourvèdre is the wine that best expresses the site’s signature ferrous, rusty nail character; a trait this winemaker values and pursues in all his reds. The fruit shows beautiful white pepper spice, a wild edge, savoury depth and textural richness.