Made in the mould of great Australian wines like Grange and Henschke's Hill of Grace, Jim Barry's 2018 'The Armagh' Shiraz may not be quite so widely-known, but for Australian wine-cognoscenti, this is a vintage to seek out, with 100 points from Decanter Magazine and a battery of great scores from major critics. 

The first Australian wine to be offered on the Place de Bordeaux, The Armagh nevertheless has a long history.  The late Jim Barry was a pioneer of Clare Valley, arriving here in 1947 as the region's first qualified winemaker (having trained at Roseworthy).  He purchased the Armagh vineyard in 1964 but the vineyard and its name date back to 1849, when Irish settlers arrived here and named the lush green Armagh Creek after their homeland. 

Barry replanted part of the Armagh vineyard with Shiraz, on heirloom, pre-phylloxera rootstocks, seeing the potential of the thin, alluvial soils.  By the 1980s, when most Australian vineyards were pulling out their Shiraz vines, he and his son Peter had the vision to set out to make Clare's first great wine from this variety.  The first 'Armagh' vintage was released in 1985. 

Over the years, the style has moved from classic, heavily-oaked Australian Shiraz to something much more precise and complex.  Made by Peter and his son Tom, the 2018 equals and even surpasses the brilliant 2016 release.  Grapes for the 2018 were hand-harvested, with several passes, to achieve optimum ripeness and flavour. Vinification was in two-tonne, open-top fermenters and the wine was matured in a combination of 75% new French and American oak hogsheads for 15 months, bottled after 3 years at an abv of 13.5%.  

With such outstanding scores, our very limited allocation of the collectable 2018 Armagh will be in great demand, so please let us know as soon as possible if you would like to order.

Offered en primeur, landing spring 2023.