Nick Stock - James Suckling
Four decades of Jim Barry The Armagh Shiraz tasted as it debuts at La Place De Bordeaux
The Armagh really stands in a league of its own when you consider great Clare Valley wine. In a region that has pinned its recent reputation on excellent riesling, a bold and uncompromising shiraz like The Armagh is a whole world away, and has come from humble beginnings to prominent international exposure.
The Armagh is about to debut on one of the elite fine wine stages, La Place de Bordeaux, where all the top names of Bordeaux are bought and sold as well as a few wines from Italy, the United States, Chile, and Argentina. It’s the first time Australian wines will be on offer.
“I do not see anything against it,” said Philippe Casteja, the head of the Bordeaux negociant house of Borie Manoux. “Bordeaux wine merchants have the distribution and network for it. As regard to Bordeaux brokers, that is another question as they are Bordeaux specialists and dedicated to the region. Already some famous Californian, Chilean, Italian famous labels use the Bordeaux channel for all or part of their distribution and apparently successfully for both parties.”
The late Jim Barry planted the eight-acre Armagh vineyard between 1964 and 1968 and hand watered the vines through the drought of 1968-69 off the back of an old ute. It sits in the fork of Benbournie and McRae Wood Roads and takes its name from The Armagh Creek that runs through the center of the vineyard. Shiraz occupies the eastern flank of the site, which was the last section to be planted, while the western section is planted to cabernet sauvignon and malbec.
When Jim Barry’s son Peter released the first The Armagh Shiraz in 1985, South Australia was in the middle of the government “vine pull” initiative, a program that subsidized the removal of vineyards to correct an oversupply. “Releasing a shiraz of that quality and price point was very ambitious at that time,” says third generation Sam Barry. “And to now be launching the 2016 vintage through La Place in September is a long way from where my grandfather started.”
To coincide with the impending 2016 vintage release, I tasted through four decades of The Armagh, 17 wines from 1989 to the soon-to-be-released 2016 vintage. See the notes and scores at the bottom of this article. I also spoke with Emma Thienpont who, along with colleague Tom Portet, has assembled the Australian First Growths platform to feed top tier Aussie wines through to the Bordeaux negociant network.
This vertical tasting, spanning what is nearly The Armagh’s entire life in bottle, showed that it is clearly at the level of many of the top wines now selling in La Place and revealed a number of outstanding vintages, as well as a high base line of quality.
The style of The Armagh has moved through distinct chapters of winemaking culture too. The first phase (1985 to 1998) really sits in a classic 1980s-informed Australian red wine style of medium-to-full-body with time weathered American oak framing still-fresh fruit. The next phase runs from 1999 to 2009 and this sees the style grow in stature and harness fuller power and structure. The third and current phase starts to take shape in 2010 where The Armagh is refined and focuses on the character of the fruit and site.
Top-rated vintages are found in all three of these chapters and that is testament to the site itself, and the recent move towards a greater reliance on fruit allows the wine to shine. The oldest bottle of the tasting was from 1989 (93 points) and opened beautifully with an almost nostalgic rendering of red fruits, cedary oak and silky tannins. The 1990 (94 points) delivered a fuller shape and texture and a great 1992 (95 points) showed classy layering of long, fine tannin.
The 1999 (98 points) was a highlight of the tasting and the oldest in a set of wines in the mid-life of The Armagh that are bold and forthright in style. The cool 2002 (97 points) had a spicy and smooth-honed feel, the blockbuster 2006 (99 points) showed almost Barolo-like tarry aromas and an ultra-concentrated core of ripe blackberry fruit. Both 2008 and 2009 (96 points each) represent hotter vintages with quite different tannin profiles, the 2008 more firm and the 2009 more round.
Then 2010 (99 points) heralds a new era of complex and still-youthful aromas with concise, focused and contained power driving the palate. The Armagh 2012 (98 points) is a show pony with such ebullient, attractive fruit intensity and the 2016 (99 points) more akin to the 2010 with polished, layered and powerful style. It delivers such intensity and composure. Certainly it is a great vintage to take to La Place on debut.
“This Australian First Growths (AFG) initiative is almost three years in the making,” said Emma Thienpont, co-founder and director at Australian First Growths. “Our objective to create a vehicle for Australian producers to contact Bordeaux negociants is designed to remove the impediments of proximity in terms of both time zoning and distance.”
Alongside The Armagh, they have also signed up Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra, Cloudburst Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay from Margaret River and the Yarra Valley’s Dominique Portet Cabernet Sauvignon.
As the lone shiraz among a suite of Australian cabernet sauvignon wines in the tight AFG folio, there is much attention on The Armagh and, if successful, others will surely be added. “We plan to add some more producers for next year’s campaign,” said Thienpont.
“My grandfather Jim’s motto was to cut your own path and he always said if everyone is going one way don’t follow,” recalls Sam Barry. “He planted shiraz at Armagh when cabernet and malbec dominated the region and now we’re taking The Armagh Shiraz to the traditional stage of La Place de Bordeaux as one of Australia’s and the world’s great red wines.”
–Nick Stock, Executive Editor
June 2020
2016 The Armagh
Wow. This is a bold, brassy shiraz that carries a wealth of very intense aromas of ripe blackberries, dark plums, licorice and sweetly spiced earth. Still so very youthful and primary. The palate is so powerful, so mouth-filling and so, so juicy. This manages to deliver such intensity and composure. Supple, long and deep-set tannins and heroically expressive fruit. Really impressive now, but this will deliver much more over the next two decades. One of the finest releases to date.
2015 The Armagh
A cooler, later and mellower vintage that has a more reticent nose with attractive, fragrant spices, fresh-baked pastry and an array of dark cherries and red plums, as well as some tarry notes. The palate has a big, rich and intense fruit presence with such lusciously layered, dark-plum flavors. Spicy oak runs bold on the finish. A big wine. Try from 2025 and for two decades after that.
2014 The Armagh
Some very complex, spicy aromas with espresso and licorice, as well as violets, blueberry pastry and blackberries. The palate has a very vibrant feel with some smooth fruit flesh around a core of intense, long and muscular tannin. Ripe dark-plum and licorice flavors. Spicy wrap at the finish. It’s open to some extent, but dense at the core. Drink over the next two decades. Screw cap.
2013 The Armagh
This has a rich delivery of dark-plum, cocoa and pepper aromas with a slate-like ,stony edge and some toasty oak spice. The palate is composed, rich and deeply flavorsome with very vivid, layered and gently grainy tannins. The power and contained intensity here is striking. Very silky, compressed texture here. A sleeper. Will start showing its best from 2025. Screw cap.
2012 The Armagh
A very bold nose with ripe red plums, blackberries, cherries and dark peaches. This has very complex spices, in the clove and cardamom zone, as well as some fresh, tarry notes and licorice. The palate has a super rich and polished feel. So showy and ebullient, this really blooms out with such rich, dense, ripe-fruit flavors, in the plum and dark-berry spectrum. Wildly delicious Armagh. Cooler fruit here and very intense. Drink over the next two decades. Outstanding. Screw cap.
2010 The Armagh
There’s a transient, flinty and meaty edge here with bags of spice and bold, ripe plums and blackberries on offer. Tar, licorice and violets, too. Very complex, youthful aromas and a sheer palate that has a very sleek, fresh and long feel. Concise, contained and concentrated. Bold plums are locked in a silky, layered and smooth finish. Power with elegance here. Drink over the next twenty years.
2009 The Armagh
A rich, ripe and intense vintage with very deep, plush and seamless blackberries, delivered in such rich, concentrated mode with a smooth, glossy tannin texture. The shape is round and plush and delivers such bold, ripe dark berries and red plums on the finish. Seamless. Lots to come. Drink or hold.
2008 The Armagh
This has a bold, very intense nose with ripe-blackberry and tarry notes, as well as licorice and dark stones. The palate has a bold, muscular tannin style and has deeply concentrated blackberry and blueberry flavors. Rich, intense and so long with tarry notes to close. Drink or hold.
2006 The Armagh
So much wine here. This has a tarry nose with almost Barolo-like aromas. Plenty of blackberries and a palate that has such massive, expansive and powerful style. The palate is so dense and almost closed-out with an ultra-concentrated core of blackberries and dark plums, as well as chocolate and super fine, bright and fresh tannins. The finish is just so long and it has so much more to come in time. Drink or hold
2005 The Armagh
This has a very intense, powerful array of ripe blackberries and hints of cedar and violets, as well as spicy and earthy depth and cocoa powder. The palate has a super powerful core of ripe black fruit, licorice, plums and anise. Smooth, sheet-like tannins hold the finish in impressive shape and style. Drink or hold.
2004 The Armagh
A complex, floral nose here with blueberries and a little balsamic. A wilder bottle with a deeply concentrated, intense yet smooth-honed palate. Packed with rich dark-plum and blackberry flavor and some spice and espresso-like notes. Drink or hold.
2002 The Armagh
Some blackberries and plums, as well as complex baking spices and a gently tarry edge. Some blueberry and cooler-toned fruit, too. The palate has terrific poise and depth, offering mouth-filling flavors of blackberries, rich and ripe plums, dark chocolate and some blueberries. Very smooth-honed, long and centrally focused drive to the finish. Plenty going on here. Drink or hold.
1999 The Armagh
A very intense, complex and savory-tinged nose with undertones of tar, toasted brown spices and plenty of blackberries. The palate is very fleshy, really succulent, bold and long, showing immense power and deep plum and fruit-paste flavors. Licorice, too. It still manages such poise with great density and focus. Black-fruit finish. Drink or hold.
1994 The Armagh
A spicy rendition that has some dried mushrooms and ripe blackberries on the nose, as well as dark plums and spicy, earthy notes. The palate has ample density and depth with such impressive, smooth, fine tannin and a long, central tannin drive at the finish. Drink or hold
1992 The Armagh
This has intense blackberry aromas and some gently tarry notes, still looking very youthful. The palate has a wealth of ripe, sweet red-plum and dark-berry flavor and plenty of blackberries, some pastry and light spice, too. Really impressive freshness and depth, as well as layered, fine tannins. Drink or hold.
1990 The Armagh
Some dark-fruit aromas with blueberries and richer, cherry-plum notes, as well as some cedar and light spice. The palate has a very fresh, fleshy and full texture with abundant fine tannin and wood spice. Some tar to close. Classic, aged Clare shiraz. Drink now.
1989 The Armagh
This shows attractive aromas of cedar, leather and dried red plums, sitting center stage in a full, mature expression. The medium-bodied palate has bright raspberry and red-plum flavors in a silky, fresh and fully rendered mode. Drink now.
