"Red and black berries, nougat and coconut, mint, light earthiness and soy sauce savouries. It’s medium to full bodied, smooth and well balanced, even flow of mixed berry flavour, nutty oak, some savoury stuff, fine grained tannin, and a long lip smacking finish with a gentle churn of tannin keeping it real. Beautifully turned out. Delicious." 94 points, Wine Front, June 2016
"Firm with tannin and alive with promise. It's not the brightest spark but deep pools of blackberried fruit and swirls of firm coffeed tannin make it a monty for sound future development." 94 points, James Halliday, Feb 2016
The Clare Valley
The Clare Valley is located two hours north of Adelaide in the Mount Lofty ranges. The region was settled by John Horrocks who encouraged his servant James Green to plant the first vines in 1842. Climate in the Clare Valley is continental with hot summers, cold winters and low rainfall that necessitates supplementary irrigation. Soils in the valley are predominantly red brown loams over shale, permitting excellent drainage. Many of the best vineyards are located at higher elevations of 400-500m on sites that take advantage of the cool breezes that funnel up the corrugation of hills from the south. The Clare Valley is renowned for its zesty fruit-pure Rieslings particularly from the sub-regions of Polish Hill and Watervale. The region also produces intense age-worthy sturdy reds from Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.Jim Barry
Jim Barry, named after the eponymous founding wine maker, is one of the stalwart wineries of the Clare Valley. In 1959 the late Jim Barry purchased land near the township of Clare, replanting much of it to vineyard. Under the leadership of managing director Peter Barry and sons Tom and Sam Barry the brand has gone from strength to strength. Jim Barry is best known for its flagship Shiraz The Armagh, but also produces an impressive range of wines including Riesling, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon from their vineyard holdings in the Clare Valley and Coonawarra.
