2024 Swinney Farvie Syrah

The Swinney family has been farming their 3,000-hectare "Franklands" property since 1922, but it was the transition to viticulture in the late 1990s that established them as one of the most significant fruit sources in Western Australia. Under the guidance of fourth-generation siblings Matt and Janelle Swinney and acclaimed winemaker Rob Mann, the estate has shifted from being a prestigious grower for others to a benchmark producer in its own right. The Farvie range represents the pinnacle of their holdings, sourced exclusively from small, ironstone-rich pockets of the vineyard where bush-vine architecture and meticulous dry-farming are used to capture the singular, ferrous personality of the Frankland River.

Farvie Syrah is a blend of dry-grown fruit from the Powderbark and Wilson Pool sites, this Syrah was fermented with 67% whole bunches to foster a savoury, ironstone personality without the influence of new oak. It spent 11 months on lees in large-format barrels, emphasizing floral perfume and a refined, mineral-driven structure rather than richness or weight.

Other Reviews....
Syrah, or Shiraz, from the Frankland River region has certainly established itself has one of the most exciting styles of the grape in the country. This release is from the Powderbark Vineyard (66%) and Wilson’s Pool (34%). The fruit is hand-picked and fed to a French oak vat, and two demi-muids. The team use 67% whole bunches in the ferment. The wine spends ten days on skins and eleven months maturing in large format, older French oak. The colour is a vibrant purple magenta. On the nose we have notes of leather and truffles, animal hides, charcuterie, black fruits, beef stock, soy, hints of florals and a touch of blackcurrants. There is real power here, but everything is in balance. Good intensity throughout with juicy acidity and abundant, fine, powdery tannins. A wine which will easily see out the next fifteen to twenty years. Drink 2026-2046.
98 points
Ken Gargett - Wine Pilot

The darkest of the three Farvie wines released in this vintage, the 2024 Farvie Syrah leads with a nose populated by dark fruit and spices to match. There are notes of blackberry, blueberry, mulberry and blood plum, alongside licorice dark chocolate and tapenade. The tannins here make a show on the palate, with a gravelly undercurrent of texture that speaks clearly of the season but more eloquently of the site. The gravelly ironstone soils are echoed in the wine, and it is this synchronicity that makes these wines so special. It's a black, graphite, cooling expression of Syrah in this vintage. There are notes of pressed flowers, too. 13.8% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink 2025-2039.
95 points
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

This is bold, grunty and svelte at once. To borrow a phrase: it’s Frankland River Grange. It’s pounded with tannin, dark berried, creamy to the touch and inflected with mint, bitumen, violets, iodine and red earth. As ‘much’ as it is on the palate, the follow through of the finish is exceptional. It was a dry old creek before blood and plums started charging through it. That’s the vibe here. Salt of the earth, as a drink. Aussie bush and Aussie berries, soft and extracted, dry and elongated. Drink 2028-2036+.
96 points
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front

The combination of different blocks adds to its deep complexity, with the dark spicy fruit of one block and the blue fruit perfumes of the other. Delve deeper, and then an earthy gamey nori-like character starts spiralling out. There’s plenty of plummy palate coating fruit, which continues to its palate feel and rich opulence. Seamlessly structured with firm tannins and that understated integrated oak working seamlessly within the core of concentrated fruit. Cellar 30 years.
97 points
Ray Jordan