All the components for this release were dry-grown, with vertically trellised Syrah drawn from Swinney’s Powderbark block B2, and Cabernet Sauvignon drawn from the Wilson’s Pool block 401. Only a subsection of soil in both blocks was farmed and selected for this rare bottling (we have only 30 dozen). While Frankland River is cool-climate continental, Swinney also uses shade cloth for these grapes on the western side, creating a soft, mottled light to protect the skins and lower the temperature in the bunch zone.
Sorted berry-by-berry, Rob Mann incorporated eight per cent whole bunches in the Syrah, and both varietals were wild-fermented. The wines spent 11 days on skins before being pressed directly to three seasoned French oak barriques to complete fermentation. The two components were blended post-MLF and filled to a single, four-year-old, 600-litre demi muid for maturation. The wine spent a total of 16 months in oak before bottling.
The 2020 vintage was a knockout for this grower’s wines, producing wine full of flavour and with excellent structure and density. The Cabernet brings structure and texture—a refined chassis of mouth-coating tannins, bursting with vibrant mineral-soaked red and black fruits and tonnes of energy—subsidized by the Syrah’s suppleness and generosity. Exhibiting Farvie-level quality, it is a wine of exhilarating tension and velvety texture, finishing with fantastic length and great purity. It will live, and continue to improve, for decades to come.