2024 Swinney Grenache

95 POINTS

Ken Gargett - Winepilot

From seemingly out of the blue, this Estate has quickly established itself as one of the leaders in the Grenache revival, making some stellar examples. From dry grown vines on their Wilson’s Pool Vineyard, the team use 40% whole bunches and wild yeasts. The wine spends eleven months on lees in older, large format oak before bottling. Crimson purple in colour, the nose opens with fragrant aromas of raspberries and cherries. The wine has a delightful creaminess to it. We have notes of herbs, redcurrants, a hint of animal skins and red fruits. Beautifully crafted, there are very fine, if ever so slightly grainy tannins. Excellent balance and persistence, this is a cracker. Drink over the next eight years.

94 POINTS

Ray Jordan

A delightfully fragrant, light to medium-bodied grenache from bush vines on the Wilson's Pool Vineyard. The season was challenging, requiring significant fruit to be dropped and careful hand harvesting to ensure only the best grapes were used. The wine was berry-sorted and gravity-fed into small wooden and stainless steel fermenters, with a higher percentage of whole bunch added during wild fermentation to build structure. Aromas of high-toned red fruit, rose petals and a slight earthiness flow through to a bright, seamlessly integrated palate that extends to a long finish.

94 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

If any variety will excel in a warm vintage, it is the sun-loving Grenache. Here, the 2024 Grenache proves the theory correct: while the tannins are firm and pliable, the fruit is fresh and vibrant, and the overall effect is one of buoyant structure. Notes of garden rose and ironstone, mulberry, bramble, sweet tobacco and even sandalwood show a wine of dappled nuance and poise. It's bloody, earthy, dusty, fine and very impressive, and while it's a more savory version of itself than previously, this will likely age well. 13.8% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

93 POINTS

Mike Bennie - Halliday Wine Companion

The winemaking uses 40% whole bunches in the wild ferment. Aged on lees in used large-format French oak. This is a beautiful, elegant and sleek expression vibrating with the whole bunch white pepper and sinewy greenness. This is slipped into red cherry, white strawberry and cranberry fruit characters. It's quite peaky, a little on edge and not quite settled into its groove, but there's freshness, purity and finesse setting up a long and attractive future for this wine.

92 POINTS

Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

If you’d asked me maybe a decade ago about Grenache, Frankland River would not have been a consideration. The winescape of Australia is nothing if not dynamic. Smells good. Raspberry, strawberry, cherry, mint, brown spices (nutmeg) and almond, something a bit twiggy, also a rose oil perfume, and ironstone. It’s medium-bodied, has something of a sappy character, a little grainy and desiccated in the tannin department but there’s plenty of charm in the red fruit and perfume department to counter that. The finish is bright, albeit a little dusty and drying, with a cinch of orange peel to close. A nice wine, though maybe one for earlier consumption.

92 POINTS

Angus Hughson - Vinous

The 2024 Grenache Frankland River offers layered and focused aromas of cherry compote, leather and old spice, evoking a genuine quality Côtes du Rhône feel. An attractive mix of ripeness and balanced acidity follows on the palate, with genuine tannins providing a wine that is already delicious but has potential to improve in bottle.