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Fast Facts: Country: Australia Region: Clare Valley, South Australia Winemaker: Mark Barry Variety: 100% Riesling Closure: Screwcap RRP: $15 AU |
A little bit about the winery: Best known (both in Australia and overseas) for “The Armagh” Shiraz and McRae Wood Shiraz, Jim Barry also makes a Riesling that is priced very competitively compared to other Riesling from this region.
This company is one of the larger still standing family operated wineries in Australia. The current winemaker Mark Barry and the viticulturalist, Peter Barry, are the sons of the founder of the company, the late Jim Barry who first planted vines in the Clare Valley in 1959, and first produced a wine under the Jim Barry label in 1974.
Website: http://www.jimbarry.com
Email: jbwines@jimbarry.com
Tasting Note: 2004 has been a slightly disappointing year for Riesling in Australia, especially compared to the excellent 2003 and exceptional 2002. I have tasted some rather bland and uninteresting 2004 examples from both the Clare Valley and elsewhere recently. This wine however, shone for me as a quite excellent expression of the variety.
A shimmering straw-green colour in the glass. A little bit of investigation with my nose revealed some rather delightful powerful apple and lime aromas. Upon tasting I was treated to a wine that has a remarkable fruit purity, with lime and a slight lemony tang adding to the typical Riesling mineral slate backing.
Drinking Window: To my taste, I think that this is best drunk now while you have the chance to experience the excellent fruit characteristics of this wine. It will surely hold for another couple of years, but at this price, why wait to enjoy?
Score: I was sufficiently impressed with this wine to award it a score of 89 with a value rating of Excellent.
See “How to interpret my scores” for an explanation of how the above scores were reached.