Swinney Farvie Syrah Frankland River, Western Australia – 2023

“2023 Swinney Farvie Syrah employs 55% whole bunches, 13.7% alcohol, and the fruit is derived 70% Powderbark B2 and 30% Wilson’s Pool. This is a super-closed and incredibly combative wine, and all the action happens in pin-drop silence. This is a quiet assassin, and the tension throughout is remarkable. It is not easy to determine the grape variety on first taste, and nor should it be because the vineyard and its intense minerality speak louder than the flesh and skins of the grapes. The frictive layers of anti-fruit silently fall away to reveal a spectacular statuesque Syrah. Toned, lithe, brightly fruited and yet immovable, there is not a molecule out of place, and it stands riveted to the spot with a commanding gaze and unshakable temperament. In 2023 the Farvie trio has done something near-impossible. They have already taken three wines at the highest level and improved their lot. It is easy to loosen the wheel nuts on a car but almost impossible to tighten them further. This Swinney has done. They are ultra-high-definition versions of previous vintages, and I take my hat off to viti (Rhys Thomas) and vini (Rob Mann) for communicating in sublime, choreographed harmony. Like Cerberus, I find it hard to choose one head from another, as all three are so spectacularly imposing. Like this mythical hound, they are all attached to the same elementally powerful body – the venerable soils in this unique corner of Frankland River.” 20+/20 Matthew Jukes

“The 2023 Farvie Syrah is streamlined and tightly coiled, with layers of compacted red gravel, dried rose petals, blood and licorice, dried herbs and caper brine, tapenade and sandalwood. This is all blue fruit; the tannins are firm but very fine, profuse without being overbearing and all derived from the fruit and stems (approximately 60% in 2023). At 13.9% alcohol, this is fine, fresh and bloody, and it’s so exciting to feel, as the tannins are everything we could hope for, as fine wine lovers, seamlessly integrated and natural, contributing to the overall effortlessness of the wine. Bravo. Sealed under screw cap.” 97+/100 The Wine Advocate

VITICULTURE:
This fruit was from dry-grown, vertically-trellised Syrah from our Powderbark B2 and Wilson Pool 801 garden project vineyard sites. Only a sub-section of soil in both blocks is farmed for Farvie in a way that both nourishes and balances the fruit to optimum levels to allow dry farming. The use of shadecloth on the side of the vines that receives the afternoon sun, and rigorous shoot positioning  and bunch selection, further refined the unique expression so critical to the personality of this fruit.

WINEMAKING:
The fruit was hand picked, berry sorted and gravity fed to a French oak vat and two demi-muids. We incorporated 55% whole bunches followed by wild fermentation to build structure and texture while promoting the bright and spicy aromatics. The wine spent 15 days on skins and was then pressed directly to finegrained, large- format, seaoned French oak, and aged for 10 months prior to
bottling. The wine was made with minimum effective Sulphites, is unfined and minimally filtered. 13.9% alc.