2023 Swinney Frankland River Riesling

Highly Rated
Scintillating Great Southern Riesling from a fourth-generation producer with some of the best Riesling vines in the region.
4.0
Rated 4.0 out of 5 stars
2 Reviews

Price:
Sale price$34.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship, only 1 unit left
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Description

Frankland River is one of the country's best regions for growing Riesling and few know how to grow it as well as Rhys Thomas.

Each bunch for this wine was hand-picked to ensure only the most pristine fruit made it to the winery. Overripe, over-exposed bunches were left behind, a wine of exceptional purity and length of flavour has emerged.

Nothing fancy in the winemaking from Rob Mann, just whole bunch pressed to tank, fermented clean and dry and allowed rest only lees for a few months before bottling.

It's razor-sharp, has a piercing length, and will live for many years in the cellar.

96 points
"A beam of sunlight, a cool drink in hand on a hot day. Melting in the mouth with a minty aftertaste and it’s feather-light too. It’s more than a sum of aromas and flavours, it’s liquid energy! Fantastic stuff."
- Kasia Sobiesiak (The Wine Front)

95 points
"Swinney Vineyard is a powerhouse of fine wine releases – no slouch from its 2023 Riesling here... Seamless all up, and drinkability is wicked. Dive in in its inimitable youth."
- Mike Bennie (Halliday Wine Companion)

Tasting Notes

Striking pale straw with green hues. Intense and aromatic with Mayer lemon, honeysuckle, bees wax, and oyster shell. Medium bodied with lively pithy citrus fruits of pomelo and lime in addition to lychee and green papaya complimented by a spine of slatey acidity and a morish briny dry finish.

Vineyard Notes

Fruit is hand-picked from blocks C and D of our Swinney Powderbark vineyard. Canopy management, the use of shade cloth on the afternoon sun side of the vines, and careful bunch selection allows us to eliminate any bunches with excessive sun exposure.

Production Notes

The fruit was whole bunch pressed, lightly settled and then naturally fermented in neutral vessels to achieve a vibrant and expressive reflection of the purity of Frankland River Riesling. Following fermentation, the wine rested on its lees to both preserve freshness and build texture prior to bottling.

96 points - "Happy lemons! Fresh lemonade, lemon slices with a sprinkle of sugar. A bright sunny day. No worries. It has a satin texture, like icing sugar made with, well, lemon juice. In other words, excellent balance of concentrated fruitiness and abundance of cool and smooth limey acidity. This drinks like a charm, it’s moreish, so positive it puts a smile on your face. A beam of sunlight, a cool drink in hand on a hot day. Melting in the mouth with a minty aftertaste and it’s feather-light too. It’s more than a sum of aromas and flavours, it’s liquid energy! Fantastic stuff." - Kasia Sobiesiak (The Wine Front)

95 points - "Swinney Vineyard is a powerhouse of fine wine releases – no slouch from its 2023 Riesling here. While compact and racy, there's a distinct savoury element, salted cashew or similar, set under the frisky lime and green apple crunch of fruit flavours. Great stuff, complexity writ large. Perfume is pretty, floral, but distinctly gingery and lemony, too. Among everything is a fine powderiness to the texture with a crackling, long, refreshing, acid-driven finish. Seamless all up, and drinkability is wicked. Dive in in its inimitable youth." - Mike Bennie (Halliday Wine Companion)

94 points - "A very good mid-weighted wine that packs flavor, structure and punch, without the hardness and brittle acidity that can often be the bane of dry Aussie riesling. Composed and tense, with the strong aura of agability embedded in its structural latticework. Scents of mandarin skin, barley water, pink grapefruit and preserved lemon. A skein of acidity, salty and maritime, tows impressive length. A juicy, pithy punctuation at the finish. Impressive. Drink or better, hold for eight to 12 years." - Ned Goodwin MW (JamesSuckling.com)

Customer Reviews

4.0
Rated 4.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 2 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 1 Total 4 star reviews: 0 Total 3 star reviews: 1 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
2 reviews
  • SK Profile picture for Stephen K.google logo
    Stephen K.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    3 years ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Refreshing, lingering lime

    Crystal clear appearance. Limes apparent from the nose, and the citrus continues on to the palate, perhaps even with a hint of mandarins. As refreshing and dry as all good young rieslings are. Exceptionally long finish as well.

  • R
    Ryan
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    4 years ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    Rated 3 out of 5 stars
    Handy WA Riesling

    Lemon/lime with a good dose of pear and white flowers. Excellent acidity and full texture in the mouth.

    Full fruit flavour and on the dry side makes this a very user friendly wine. Easy to get carried away.

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Swinney

The Swinney family's roots in Frankland River stretch back over 100 years.

George John Alexander Swinney was a pioneer of the region, settling a grazing property in Franklands in 1922. Today the property is run by fourth generation brother and sister, Matt and Janelle Swinney. They are taking the family property into great new territory.

Bush vines litter the property. Riesling, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre are fining a very happy home on the ironstone slopes above the Frankland River.

Now, with Rhys Thomas as viticulturist and vineyard manager since 2021, and sixth generation winemaker Rob Mann crafting the wines in the cellar, this label is on track to become one of the regional benchmarks in short order.

The Swinney family - Frankland River, WA Swinney

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