The nation’s best Shiraz is a subtle drop with balance and a striking point of difference that comes from the year it was made.
Jim Barry Wines ‘The Armagh Shiraz 2023’ was awarded a stunning 99 points in the 2027 Halliday Wine Companion, making it the official ‘Shiraz of the Year.’
The 2023 harvest came off a particularly wet year following lots of rain and the ‘third La Niña growing season in a row.’
Something that made this harvest in particularly different was also the cool climate.
“It was the coolest year we’ve had in over 20 years,” Sam Barry said.
Because the heavy winter and spring rain left the vines particularly vigorous, the 2023 crop was around 70 percent larger than what was needed to produce the quality and concentration required for The Armagh.
The team responded with extensive shoot and crop thinning, removing the extra fruit to give the remaining grapes the best chance to ripen and develop concentration.
“But I think the reason why this wine won is the style and the elegance of the wine was a real standout,” Sam said.
“It has some of those cool-climate Shiraz flavours and aspects like pepper, spice, which are flavours that we don’t always see in Clare.”
“For an Armagh to have those flavours, this is really the first time we’ve seen Armagh with that much spice and pepper and that cool-climate influence.”
That distinctive character also made an impression on the judges, with the panel describing the decision as “clear as day” and “a victory by a large margin”.
“The Armagh this year really just stood head and shoulders above the pack.”
Sam said the team have seen a large amount of success with their Shiraz in particular, winning more gold medals than any other winery in Australia at wine shows over the past five years.
“This is just another endorsement of what we’re doing, the work we’re doing in the vineyards, the work we’re doing in the winery and the aspiration of just trying to get better and better,” Sam said.
The Armagh’s story spans three generations of the Barry family.
Jim Barry planted the vineyard by hand in 1968, with the family even hand-watering the young vines from the back of an FX Holden ute during the severe 1968–69 drought.
His son Peter produced the first Armagh in 1985, at a time when the Australian wine industry was struggling and vineyards were being pulled out across South Australia.
Today, the next generation continues to make the wine, carrying forward more than five decades of family blood, sweat and tears into the vineyard.
To learn more about the award-winning drop, click here.
