Family-owned winery, Jim Barry Wines are celebrating 50 years since the planting of their iconic Armagh Vineyard, with the release of the 2018 ‘The Armagh’ Shiraz.

 To mark the occasion, the family have released a commemorative book;The Armagh - Rare Earth and Fine Wine. It is a comprehensive compendium for collectors and lovers of fine wine and traces the provenance of this extraordinary wine, while providing an insight into its history and development.

 Introducing the reader to the people who have been an intrinsic part of its historic journey and including winemaking and tasting notes on every vintage, it is the ultimate guide to a truly great Australian Shiraz and one of the fine wines of the world.

 For Sam Barry, General Manager at Jim Barry, it was important to document the history of this significant vineyard and wine for future generations. “We wanted to share our family’s 50-year journey with this wine and to acknowledge the people entrusted to its making for over three decades,” he said.

 In 1964, Jim Barry first planted 2500 Cabernet Sauvignon and 900 Malbec vines, followed by a further seven acres of his most prized Shiraz vines in 1968. “My father had great vision and foresight” said Peter Barry, Proprietor of Jim Barry Wines. “He knew that this piece of land in the Armagh Valley was special and planted it with the varieties that he truly believed were the future for the Clare Valley. He has created a wonderful legacy for our family, and we feel humbled to be able to make this wonderful wine from those original vines,” Peter said.

 From the first vintage in 1985, The Armagh has achieved remarkable success and is regarded as one of Australia’s highest quality wines, attaining the maximum possible rating of ‘Exceptional’ in Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine in 2012.

 Third generation winemaker, Tom Barry, believes the 2018 vintage of ‘The Armagh’ is one of the best. “We are respectful of the past in making this wine but are not anchored to it,” he said. “We look for ways to gently manoeuvre this fine wine, tailoring and refining it over time.” The 2018 vintage has all the hallmarks of this classic wine; plush fruit, subtle richness and the shock of tannin that characterises Clare Shiraz. “We are immensely proud of this wine and know that it has a long life ahead of it,” said Tom.

 With a transition in management to the third-generation now complete, Tom, Sam and their sister Olivia, feel a great sense of pride in being able to continue their grandfather and father’s legacy at Jim Barry Wines.

 The Armagh 2018 was released to the international and domestic markets this month and is available through the Jim Barry website.

On the 5th of July 2022 The Armagh 2018 was awarded a perfect score of 100 points from Georgina Hindle Decanter. Her notes below:

“A meaty, savoury, spiced nose, something so welcoming about it, warm and friendly with a touch of perfume, dark chocolate, cinnamon and pink peppercorn to the blackcurrant, damsons and plums. Rich, ample and generous, yet delivered with such supple and velvetysoft tannins. This has an elegance to it, a cool sophistication in terms of the profile - neat and tidy, quite linear right now, brimming with energy, not yet fully expansive or loose, but quietly controlled and calm. It’s confident though with invigorating acidity and I love the focus, detail and the purity of fruit. Sweet red fruits - strawberries, raspberries and red cherries with a slight balsamic, pomegranate edge that is so delicious. Juicy, crunchy, succulent and ripe but with an effortless edge to it. Supremely drinkable and likeable - what a gorgeous wine! A quality vintage and excellent winemaking skill on show”.