Jim Barry Eastern Ranges Clare Valley Malbec 2022

A founding member of Australia’s First Families of Wine, the Barry family celebrated the 60th anniversary of its winery in 2020, the year it also scooped the title of Halliday’s ‘Winery of the Year’. Over three generations the Barry name has been famous throughout the wine world and synonymous with the Clare Valley. Jim Barry bought his first vineyard here in 1959, and even helped the Taylor family open their winery a decade later. Son Peter took over Jim Barry in 1985, and today brothers Tom and Sam, with sister Olivia, have raised the bar even higher. Tom and Sam have been shortlisted for Halliday's Winemaker of the Year 2026. From the beginning, Clare Valley visionary Jim Barry was a believer in Malbec. Barry, the first qualified winemaker to work in Clare, planted his first blocks to Cabernet and Malbec in 1964, using cuttings from the revered Wendouree vineyards, home to Australia’s oldest malbec vines. The French-born varietal has spent the past few decades obscured from the popularity of Australian shiraz and cabernet, while still being used as an important blending grape.But now, Barry’s grandchildren, Sam and Tom, are among a new wave of winemakers taking the virtues of Malbec more seriously. “We’re now making several blends with Malbec and straight Malbec too and we’re actually planting more malbec – there’s just so much to like about the variety.” This is a new exclusive, a succulent Malbec from the Clare Valley's high altitude Eastern Ranges – crafted from the same Malbec clone as the cuttings originally planted from Clare Valley’s Wendouree. (Wendouree’s oldest vines still producing fruit were planted in 1898.) The Barrys’ vineyards along the valley’s Eastern Ranges, which sit between 480 and 500 metres above sea level...“You have 35 degree days but it will get well down below 10 degrees in the nights which really helps you build flavour and ripen the grapes evenly without high alcohol levels." For John Lehmann in The Australian, it shows "Vibrant scents of violets, blackberry and dark cherry combine with creamy vanilla, leading to a bright, voluptous palate offering intense blue and red fruit flavours (and a hint of cherry pie!). Fine-grained tannins and balanced acidity drive on to a cool fresh finish. Mellow and smooth. Everything there is to like in Malbec, right here."