2019 Corymbia Chenin Blanc

Corymbia

Australia / Swan Valley / Corymbia

Our second release of our Rocket’s Vineyard Chenin Blanc. We’re a little excited to welcome this wine again to our family. Rob and his father, former Australian Test Cricketer Tony “Rocket” Mann, planted the Chenin Blanc vines together on their family property more than 25 years ago. We have put in the hard work in the vineyard, transitioning to organic farming with acute attention to detail, to ensure we continue the Mann family tradition of creating remarkable wines with a unique sense of place.
The grapes were harvested by hand over two days and whole bunch pressed prior to natural fermentation. A portion was matured in seasoned French oak barriques for seven months prior to blending and bottling. The wine shows distinctive characters of lemon pith, blackcurrant leaf, fresh crunchy pear with a textural, vibrant and typically saline finish. It’s so salivating, it’s the perfect drink for every occasion. - Rob & Gen Mann

July, 2020

James Halliday

Halliday Wine Companion

95 points

It's gently spiced with pepper and cinnamon quills. It's floral with some fresh herbs, poached apple, bees wax and refreshing lemon barley water flavours. The palate is altogether racier, almost Riesling-like acidity keeping this long and pure with the right amount of phenolics adding that extra layer.

Ray Jordan

The West Australian Wine Guide 2021

95 points & No. 1 Chenin Blanc

Terrific example of the Swan Valley's Chenin Blanc sourced from the vineyard Rob's late father Tony owned. Shows the intensity and vibrancy of this variety, with so much flavour all held with the characteristic fine acidity that snuggles into the palate. After natural fermentation, a portion was put into oak and then blended. Love the lemon rind characters that work with the creamy oak. A real crowd pleaser.

Max Allen

Australian Financial Review

A fresh and nervy young wine right now, all Granny Smith crunch and brightness: a couple of years in the cellar will see it flesh out beautifully and develop a richer texture.

#9, West Australian Good Food Guide Awards 2020

Another strong argument to pay heed to the reinvention of Swan Valley and its upswing in quality wines. This charming white opens with tutti frutti scents but does a different trick in the palate where it feels tart and refreshing, leaning into savoury character and decidedly saline-minerally.
Steely and intense, there’s great carriage of flavour across the palate and the wine feels brisk and wonderfully refreshing. So excellent. Chenin is a hero.

May, 2021

Jancis Robinson

jancisrobinson.com

16.5++/20

Fruity nose with green-fruit notes – a bit like a cooking apple dipped in runny honey? Pretty firm on the end – recognisably related to a fine Montlouis or Vouvray. This should age pretty well – it's delightfully ambitious – but it will probably all be drunk long before it's really ready. A really distinguished dry wine for the long term.

November, 2019

Mike Bennie

The Wine Front

93+ points

Corymbia Chenin will be The Next Big Thing. From Rocket’s Vineyard (the Mann family’s site) out back of Swan Valley, kind of. Tightly wound in youth, you have to give these wines some time. Indeed, the asset here is Hunter Valley Semillon-esque, or Tahbilk Marsanne-esque. Time. Patience. Reward. Even drinking in youth it needs a year. Whole bunch pressed, natural ferment, time on lees.
Precise and racy style, kept in check with limey acidity and chalky phenolic grip. Actually, so much grip, rivulets of talc-and-salt-like pucker and chew. Serious structure and finesse in tow. Lime, tonic water, mixed minerals. Whoosh. Belter of a wine.

April, 2020

Nick Stock

JamesSuckling.com

93 points.

Some attractive, flinty and stony notes here with lemons and sliced green apples, in a very fresh mode. The palate has a very fresh, sleek feel with beautifully crisp, fresh and elegantly pure resolve. Drink now. Screw cap.

Standard Bottle Out of Stock

About Corymbia

Corymbia is the deep-rooted, far-sighted vision of husband-and wife-team, Rob and Genevieve Mann. The Mann name is synonymous with Western Australia’s Swan Valley, where Rob’s pioneering grandfather Jack worked a remarkable 51 consecutive vintages for Houghton. Rob was just a boy when he joined his father - former Australian test cricketer Tony - in planting the vines on what is now the dry-grown, organically farmed Corymbia vineyard.
After building an exceptional reputation in their own right, the couple kicked off their homecoming dream, Corymbia, with the 2013 vintage, during Rob’s tenure as estate director at Newton Vineyard in Napa Valley. Now firmly ensconced back in the Swan Valley, Rob and Gen’s Chenin Blanc and Tempranillo-dominant red blend sit at the heart of a bright future for this brilliant duo. And their Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon, from their beautiful Calgardup Vineyard, is a new milestone for this region.

About

Rob was one of the crop of hotshots at Hardys during the reign of Stephen Pannell, before Rob himself took the mantle of senior winemaker at Hardys Tintara. From there he established a name for himself as one of the great talents of his generation during his time at the helm of Cape Mentelle - eventually being handpicked to radically ramp up quality at LVMH's Napa estate Newton Vineyard. Genevieve, meanwhile, worked in South Africa, France, California and South Australia prior to moving to Margaret River in 2007 in the role of winemaker for Howard Park.