Jim Barry Wines The Armagh Shiraz 2006

Brent Gushowaty rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

Eye:
Dense colour, opaque depth with a purplish rim.

Nose:
Concentrated berry fruit flavours, cedar and cigar box, plums, white pepper.

Palate:
As on nose, great fruit concentration, with plums, tobacco, cedar, white pepper and brambly berrry flavours. The tannins have softened some with age and do not distract from the complex fruit and savoury flavours. Well balanced, supple, excellent acidity and structure. Will certainly develop further and grow more complex. The colour would indicate that it is still a long way from full maturity. Very impressive

Date Tasted: May 28, 2015


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Steve Kubota rated this wine as 97/100 with the following review:

JIM BARRY WINES, South Australia
‘The Armagh’ 2006 Shiraz

I enjoyed tasting three wines from Jim Barry at an industry tasting promotion showcasing Australia’s First Families of Wine. There is more information on Australia’s First Families of Wine (AFFW) available at the end of this review.

I feel fortunate to have met Peter Barry at the AFFW event. Peter’s passion, knowledge and charisma all shine brightly. He is as engaging as the wines I tasted were. Needless to say I enjoyed speaking with Peter during the speed tasting round and visiting with him to taste a museum wine he brought with him as well. I wish I could have spent much more time with him, learning about the history of his family and the stories behind the scenes.

From the Winery:
Jim Barry Wines is a family winery based in the Clare Valley of South Australia. The company was founded in 1959 by Jim and Nancy Barry. The company is now owned and managed by Peter Barry, a second generation family winemaker. Jim Barry Wines is home to some of Australia’s favourite wines such as The Armagh, The McRae Wood, The Benbournie, First Eleven, Pb, The Cover Drive, The Lodge Hill Shiraz, The Barry Brothers, The Florita, The Lodge Hill Riesling and Watervale Riesling.

Jim Barry Wines’ philosophy to winemaking is very simple: own the vineyards to develop the best fruit flavours possible and retain these flavours during winemaking. We firmly believe that great wine is made in the vineyard. Over our 55 years, we have worked to establish a mosaic of vineyards across the Clare Valley, each unique in site, soil and aspect. In addition to this, we have two vineyards in the Coonawarra region, where we grow Cabernet Sauvignon on the famous Terra Rossa soils.

The Armagh Shiraz has achieved extraordinary success and is regarded as one of Australia’s highest quality wines.

The vineyard was named after the adjoining hamlet of Armagh, established by Irish settlers in 1849 and named after the lush rolling hills of their homeland. Jim Barry planted the 3.3 hectare vineyard in 1968 with Shiraz grapes.

The vineyard is planted on its own roots on grey sandy abrasive topsoil over clay subsoil and receives an average rainfall of 600 millimetres per year. Such is The Armagh vineyards suitability that minimal intervention is needed to maintain yields below 4 tonnes per hectare, which produce rich and concentrated fruit of the rare quality required to produce wines with ageing potential

My Tasting Notes:
The Armagh Shiraz represents some of the best Shiraz from Clare Valley and Australia. It was one of the top three Shiraz and top five wines tasted at the AFFW event. This vintage has scored very well and for good reasons. Nine-years after bottling, the wine still shows great depth, dark rich colour and balanced. There is also a feeling of refinement, oak and tannin structure. It is still full of fresh and vibrant blackberry, licorice and plum flavours. This vintage is perfect now and for the next 10 years or more.

Varietal Composition: 100% Shiraz
Appellations: The Armagh Vineyard, Clare Valley
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 15.6%
Total Acid: 6.8 g/L
pH: 3.37
Sweetness Level: Dry


Australia’s First Families of Wine (AFFW):
AFFW together represent seventeen wine-growing regions across Australia and forty-eight generations of winemakers. The inaugural twelve-member alliance includes Brown Brothers, Campbells, Taylors, DeBortoli, McWilliam's, Tahbilk, Tyrell's, Yalumba, D'Arenberg, Jim Barry, Howard Park, and Henschke. Howard Park Wines is the only representative from Western Australia to be included in AFFW.

The aim of Australia's First Families of Wine is to showcase a representative and diverse range of the best of Australian wine with a focus on regional and iconic drops. The collective is working to engage and educate consumers, retailers, restaurants and the wine industry across the globe about the real character and personality of Australian wine, and about the unique characters and personalities behind it.

The 2006 Jim Barry Armagh Shiraz was tasted on May 28, 2015 in Vancouver, BC.

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Alex & Priya rated this wine as 82/100 with the following review:

Priya: Cherry cough syrup on the nose, very rich, heavy, hick and alcoholic - at 15.6% it's a bomb! Very bright and lively "an elephant in ballerina shoes" says Jim Barry. Like a rich, berry jam. 82 pts

Alex: Intense "dryer sheet" florality to the nose, cough syrupy and alcoholic. Plenty of added "orange juice" acidity that just cannot balance this wine's high alcohol, comes across as clunky and awkward on the palate. Just big, and really lacking grace. I wouldn't pay $50 for it, much less $250!! 82 pts.

Mymi Thesingingsommelier rated this wine as 95/100 with the following review:

Jim Barry Wines is a family winery based in the Clare Valley of South Australia. The company was founded in 1959 by Jim and Nancy Barry and is now owned and managed by Peter Barry, a second generation family winemaker.
Jim was the first qualified winemaker in the Clare Valley, graduating as the 17th student to gain a Degree in Oenology at the famous Roseworthy Agricultural College in 1947. His son Peter followed in his footstep and graduated from the same program in 1985. In 2010, Peter ’son Tom graduated from the University of Adelaide Waite Campus (formally Roseworthy Agricultural Collage) making the Barry’s the first family owned winery in Australia to have three generations of Roseworthy/Waite graduates.
Jim Barry Wines’ philosophy to winemaking is very simple: own the vineyards to develop the best fruit flavors possible and retain these flavors during winemaking.
All fruit for this 2006 The Armagh Shiraz hails from a small vineyard of the same name. It was planted by Jim Barry in 1968 and yields less than two tonnes per acre.
The name of ‘Armagh’ was bestowed by the original Irish settlers who arrived in 1849, and named the lush rolling hills after their homeland.
The wine was described by Peter Barry as an elephant in ballerina shoes and it is absolutely stupefying!
In the glass, it is the deepest purple with a multitude of inky legs.
The nose is explosive with aromas of currants, baking spices, dark fruitcake, espresso, soft oak and a touch of cedar.
It is immense and expansive on the palate. Full of very ripe dark fruit compote, spice, cacao powder and a little soya sauce. Meaty tannins, mouth-watering acidity and a seemingly endless smoky finish.
Enjoy on a stormy night with a perfectly grilled rib-eye steak!

Allison & Chris Wallace rated this wine as 96/100 with the following review:

A towering giant of a Shiraz that is all blackfruits and spice. Intense fruit dominated flavours get support from nuances of pepper, vanilla bean and tapenade. Very complex. Tasted just after the Hill of Grace, it nears that iconic wines quality level but at a quarter of the price.