2024 Corymbia Tempranillo / Malbec

“The heat is on, on the street… the pressure’s high just to stay alive.” Yep, this classic Glenn Frey 80s track was the soundtrack for our Swan Valley grape vines in 2024. Everything in the vineyard centred around keeping enough leaf cover to protect the fruit from the warmest, driest and earliest vintage since records began in 1922. The record early harvest did mean we avoided much of the excess heat that came in late summer, and we think the wines fit neatly into a tightly tailored suit ready for an ensemble performance at the Grammys, so keep an eye out for them!

The grape varieties (52% Tempranillo and 48% Malbec) were hand-harvested on the same day. The Tempranillo and Malbec fruit was individually berry sorted and combined before carbonic maceration and natural co-fermentation in a single French oak vat. Maturation followed in two seasoned 600-litre French oak demi-muids and a barrique for 10 months.

The wine is deep crimson with purple hues. Poised and confident, expressing plum skins, cherry pith, pomegranate, and Dutch liquorice, creating a vibrant and complex sensory concert. Medium bodied with daring bright red and black cherries, gun metal minerality, long and energetic finish with finely tuned tannins at the point of resonance. – Rob & Gen Mann

The 2024 Tempranillo Malbec Rocket’s Vineyard has a good impact, with rich cherry, mulberry and licorice flavors providing a fleshy opening. The wine then steps up a notch in a flavorsome and unforced package, with subtle savory varietal influences and marked sinewy tannins adding depth and definition to a confident finish. An unusual blend in a hot season done well. 92 points. Angus Hughson, Vinous Jan 2026