Being Halliday
JAMES HALLIDAY REFLECTS ON THE HISTORY OF CLARE VALLEY AND WINERY OF THE YEAR JIM BARRY WINES, ALSO LOOKING INTO WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR THIS FAMILY BUSINESS.
James Halliday reflects on Winery of the Year Jim Barry Wines
I HAVE ALWAYS had a special affection for the Clare Valley. It’s a gentle place, with a modest road, twisting and turning, rising and falling, welcoming but not overwhelming visitors. Small rivulets, their beds as often as not dry, but running in winter and spring, and nourishing towering gum trees. Cross the Main North Road and turn into one of the dirt roads to discover another cameo vista. A picnic lunch and a glass of wine enhance the pleasure for all.
Big corporate players have been and gone. Family ownership of vineyards and wineries is de rigueur, and stone cottages set the tone for the drive due north starting at Auburn, then Leasingham, Watervale, Penwortham, Sevenhill and Clare, the latter the only town you encounter on the way.
Clare has been impacted by the 20th century, but it does boast some beautiful stone buildings dating back to the 19th century. Be selective in your vision and the rewards are there, with the ghost of John Horrocks, who established Clare in 1840 and planted the first vines at Hope Farm – an ironic name given the freak accident that terminated his life (John was accidentally shot while reloading his shotgun, believed to have been triggered by a camel).
Vineyards spread across and along the Valley, reaching out to Burra (copper) and Mintaro (slate) on the Valley’s eastern side, adding to economic success that was dwarfed by the 1880s establishment of Broken Hill to the north on the Barrier Highway. At its peak, Clare was known as the hub of the north.
In 1947, Jim Barry, with his recently completed oenology degree from Roseworthy Agricultural College tucked under his arm, took the helm of the Clare Valley Cooperative, becoming the first qualified winemaker to work in the region. He also met and married Nancy after a six-week whirlwind romance.
Looking to the future, they bought an unplanted block of land in 1959, where the winery now stands. Jim Barry left the cooperative in 1968 to join forces with the Taylor family, setting up their substantial vineyard and winery development, which was initially a partnership. In 1972, he left to establish his own winery, completed in time for the 1974 vintage.
Today, Jim Barry Wines has a portfolio of vineyards covering 289ha in the Clare Valley and 36ha in Coonawarra. There are presently 15 sites, but the clock is still ticking. Seven of these vineyards produce branded wines, the remainder are used for various wines with no vineyard ascription.
The family’s first acquisition, in 1964, was of vacant land owned by Duncan McRae Wood, and later planted with 21ha of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and malbec between ’64 and ’68. The vineyard is now known as The Armagh, home to their flagship red wine of the same name. This pinnacle wine was later joined by the Benbournie Cabernet Sauvignon and The James Cabernet Malbec, set for release later this year; each priced to sit alongside The Armagh at $350.
The James honours the late James (Jim) Brazill Barry.
Next came the Lodge Hill site, with 88ha under vine, 28ha of which was sold to brother Brian Barry, and ultimately repurchased by Jim Barry in 2006. It produces fruit for the Lodge Hills Shiraz and Riesling, Wolta Wolta Riesling, Spring Farm Block 114 and Block 18, the Single Vineyard Eastern Ranges Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Malbec, and Assyrtiko.
In 1986, Jim Barry Wines bought the Florita Vineyard from Lindemans for a derisory price, although not so derisory that a southwest corner of 1.16ha was sold to cover the cost of handpruning that year. The site was planted with 36ha of priceless riesling, which, through the ’60s and ’70s, had produced glorious wines under the baton of chief winemaker John Vickery. History repeated itself when the block, called clos Clare, was repurchased in 2007, but Lindemans didn’t sell the brand name – a typical hard-nosed ploy by big producers who will sell the assets but not the name, making the accounts look rosier.
The only move outside the Clare Valley was to Coonawarra, when a 10.78ha block of cabernet sauvignon, known as the Old Penola Cricket Ground, was acquired in 1997. It produces The First XI, fuelled by Peter Barry’s long-held admiration for the quality of Coonawarra cabernet. The Treasury Wine Estates-owned Kirribilli Vineyard, with 25ha of cabernet sauvignon, was offloaded at a juicy price in 2010, providing the Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Six years later, TWE sold the 25ha McKay’s Vineyard at Watervale to Jim Barry Wines, giving rise to the Single Vineyard McKay’s Riesling.
With this year’s acquisitions of the small (4ha) Honey Vineyard at Watervale and the much larger (24ha under vine, dating back to 1974) Morrison’s Vineyard, you’d think the family might stop for a breath, but they haven’t. The Morrison property is at the highest point in the valley, offering new opportunities over and above those on the go, such as the Spring Farm project.
Spring Farm is an area that incorporates Lodge Hill and an adjoining site also in Barry ownership. Two wines are made each year, weather permitting, the first from Block 114 from the adjoining vineyard planted in 1977, made every year since 2013. Block 18 comes from Lodge Hill vines planted in 1979. There is no winemaking trickery here, says Sam Barry, who oversees sales and marketing. The fruit is handpicked, refrigerated overnight, pressed very lightly, the juice inoculated with a neutral yeast. The wines will be released when they are 10 years old, and only 220 dozen bottles are made of each one.
Then there is the Loosen-Barry exchange of ideas, building on a long friendship between the two families, and – one suspects – the outgoing personalities of Peter Barry and German riesling stalwart Ernie Loosen. The 2017 Wolta Wolta (meaning good water) Riesling uses fruit from Block 18 at Lodge Hill planted in 1979. It is picked seven to 10 days later than usual by the winemaker Tom Barry, lightly pressed and settled for a wild ferment in a 2800-litre German oak fuder. It is left on gross lees for 12 months in barrel, then a further 12 months on fine lees in stainless steel. No acid additions are made, but 7g/l residual sugar is retained. It spends a further 12 months in bottle prior to release, as is also Loosen’s way.
A fateful trip to Santorini some years ago put Peter Barry face to face with a grape variety growing in one of the harshest places on viticultural earth, coiled like a great prehistoric bird’s nest on pumice stones, enduring scorching winds that blow all day, every day, during summer. Yet the crisp, vibrantly crunch-dry white wine was delicious. The Barry Ark went into action, and the winery now sells Clare Valley assyrtiko alongside riesling. Mind you, it took some time before the vines were released from quarantine and they are slowly building the number of them with acceptable maturity.
Today, Jim Barry Wines has a portfolio of vineyards covering 289ha in the Clare Valley and 36ha in Coonawarra. There are presently 15 sites, but the clock is still ticking.