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THE VERY DEFINITION OF A FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED WINERY

Jim Barry is an Australian wine legend with a list of achievements as long as the finish on his Clare Valley wines. Jim was the region’s first qualified winemaker. He helped define the region as one of Australia’s best for RieslingShiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon at the Clarevale Cooperative. Jim was also vital in establishing one of the region’s great wineries, Taylors. And he did all this before he started the Jim Barry winery in 1974.

With Jim Barry Wines, Jim built up a global reputation for quality and innovation in the vineyard and in the winery. Today, two generations of the Barry family ensure this legacy will grow and continue long into the future. From Jim’s son and Managing Director, Peter, to Peter’s children Tom, Sam and Olivia who occupy a variety of roles, this is well and truly a family affair. In a little over two generations they’ve gone from Jim’s first ‘home-made’ wines to one of Australia’s First Families of Wine alongside the HenschkesTyrrells and Brown Brothers. But they aren’t resting on these laurels, rather they are continuing to innovate and challenge the status quo to ensure the legend of Jim Barry Wines will grow around the world.

From father to son – From Jim Barry to Peter Barry

Peter Barry has been involved with Jim Barry Wines from the very beginning. That’s no surprise when your father is already gaining a reputation as a local legend in the wine game. Peter knew from a young age that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and the nascent Jim Barry winery was the perfect place for him to do this.

1977 was Peter’s first year of official work in the winery, just three short years after Jim’s first vintage. Peter loved the hustle and bustle of vintage life. His father instilled in him the value of a good education to support his passion for wine, so Peter headed off to complete an Oenolgy Degree at the University of Adelaide.

Peter returned to the winery in 1982 and has been helping to shape the style of the wines ever since. Peter innately understood the style of wines his father loved. He built on these by adding his own style and his own flair. Over the years Peter has added vineyards, wines and marketing nous without ever losing the fine wine core established by Jim.

When a succession plan works better than you could ever expect

Jim Barry knew within a few short years of setting up his winery that his legacy would be carried on by his son, Peter. He didn’t need to wait years to find out whether or not someone in his family would be interested in carrying on his life’s work. It was a different story for Peter. As soon as he had children he was able to wonder if any of them would be as passionate about a life in wine as he was. Would any of the Barry children be keen to carry on Jim’s legacy?

There was no need to worry. Growing up amongst the vines in one of Australia’s most beautiful wine regions has had a deep impact on all three of Peter’s children. Each has picked up a passion in a different area of the wine game: winemaking, sales/marketing and communications. Peter couldn’t have planned it any better if he had tried.

Tom Barry is the oldest of Peter’s children and was the first to get bitten by the wine bug. He went to boarding school in Adelaide but couldn’t wait to get back home to the Clare Valley in the holidays to work in the vineyards and winery. After finishing school, he headed to the same university that his father and grandfather had attended to complete his studies in oenology. The Barry family winery became the first to ever have three generations of winemakers graduate from the Roseworthy/Waite school, a wonderful achievement given the storied place of the school in Australian winemaking.

All of this is fine and dandy, but what really matters is the quality of the wines that you make. You could understand if Tom felt a little pressure to match up to the high standards set by his father and grandfather. If he did, it hasn’t shown. Tom has taken the signature Riesling wines at Jim Barry to another level. He’s added to the range of red wines and seen the reputation for these classic Australian wine styles grow.

Sam Barry was the next one to fall for the wine game. For Sam, it was the business of wine that captured his imagination. Sam still loves helping out during the vintage and has worked in some of the world’s great wine regions, but his heart is in the commercial side of wine. Rather than studying winemaking, Sam studied accounting and finance as part of a Commerce degree. While it’s not as romantic as vines and winemaking it is vitally important to ensure that wine lovers around the world get to enjoy what you produce.

While they don’t give out trophies or gold medals for Commercial Managers, Sam has been earmarked as a future leader of the Australian wine community. In 2015 Sam was selected to participate in the Australian wine community’s peak personal and professional leadership program. The aptly named ‘Future Leaders’ program is designed for the next crop of those who are ready to step up and take their businesses and our sector to the next level. The future is looking bright for Sam and for Jim Barry Wines.

Last but by no means least is Peter’s daughter, Olivia. The youngest of the Barry children, Olivia developed a passion for wine working at the cellar door during high school. This love led to a degree in Communications and Media Management at the University of Adelaide, completing the wine sector bingo card for Peter. Olivia has travelled the world as an ambassador sharing the Jim Barry story. She’s helped bring loads of new fans to the fold and helped to ensure that Jim Barry Wines thrives at home and in the 25 countries they export to around the world.

Jim Barry Wines – The very definition of a family owned and operated winery

Family owned wineries are a vitally important part of the Australian wine community. They’ve been responsible for some of our greatest wines and our most important innovations. The Barry family is no exception. They’ve planted and produced Australia’s first Assyrtiko. They’ve been leaders in single vineyard and micro bottlings of exceptional parcels of Riesling from their Florita and Lodge Hill vineyards. They’ve built the Armagh vineyard, planted by Jim Barry in 1968, into one of Australia’s most renowned for long lived Shiraz.

So much has been achieved in the last forty or so years. Now with Tom, Sam and Olivia slowly but surely taking the reins from their multi-skilled father you’d be foolish to bet against the next generation of Barrys. The distinguished history of quality and innovation that started in the 1970s with a small batch of ‘home-made’ wines made by Jim Barry will grow and grow. Jim would be damn proud of how his truly delicious legacy is blossoming.

By WINE AUSTRALIA on 25 JUL 2017

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History

Although born in Dulwich (a suburb of Adelaide), Jim was brought up in Murray Bridge until 1937, where he and his brother Brian were taught by the sisters of St Joseph. In 1938 his family moved back to Adelaide and he commenced his secondary education at Christian Brothers College, Rostrevor. 

During his time there, he was considered to be a good all-round sportsman, as well as rover and forward in Brother Moggs unbeaten champion football team in 1941.

 

Early Career History

In 1944 Jim Barry commenced his wine career by studying wine science (Oenology) at Roseworthy Agricultural College. For almost a hundred years the highly respected College has been associated with viticulture and winemaking, and is credited as one of the principal reasons for the excellent quality of Australian wine. Jim did his first vintage at Stonyfell Winery in 1945 while continuing to study for his Oenology diploma.

 

In 1946, as a final year student, he undertook work experience at the Clarevale Cooperative. After graduating at the end of the year as the 17th qualified winemaker to study at Roseworthy, he accepted a position as Clarevale’s winemaker and chemist - the first qualified winemaker to work in the Clare Valley.

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Vineyards

We firmly believe that great wine is made in the vineyard. Over our 54 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 some of our Cabernet Sauvignon on the famous Terra Rossa soils.

 

The Florita Vineyard

At a time when the South Australian Government had initiated a vine pull program in the mid-1980s to counter an oversupply of grapes and the industry was in a state of turmoil, Mark, Peter and John Barry went against conventional wisdom and purchased the Florita vineyard in 1986. Despite fruit being in oversupply and Riesling being overshadowed by a huge surge in popularity by Chardonnay, they knew that Florita was one of the best vineyards in the country and was crucial in their plans to produce premium Rieslings.

 

The unique soil composition is primarily loamy clay over limestone. Traditionally, vines from Florita are hand-pruned to a level of 40 buds per vine to maintain the intensity of flavour. The grapes are harvested in the cool of the night at their optimum ripeness to preserve the delicate Riesling flavours and to retain natural acidity.

 

The Lodge Hill Vineyard

At 480 metres, the Lodge Hill vineyard, situated on the eastern ranges of the township of Clare, is one of the highest points in the valley. Jim’s original intention was to devote the entire Lodge Hill vineyard to premium Riesling. However, while he was pottering around with his trusty shovel, digging here and there, he discovered a very different soil profile on the small north-facing slope. Warmer than the rest of the property, Jim decided it was the perfect place to plant Shiraz. So in essence, there are two vineyards within the one.

 

The Shiraz vineyard's soil consists of about 40-50 centimetres of rich, chocolaty loam over rock, consisting of almost vertical sheets. The cracks between the sheets have been filled with soil, providing passage for the vine roots and free drainage – the ideal environment for low-yielding Shiraz vines.

 

The soil in the Riesling vineyard, on the other side of the crest, is brown loam over a layer of clay and slate bedrock that is about 900 million years old and has cracked just off the vertical so that water can drain freely through it. It’s a soil that nourishes the vines adequately, but makes them struggle just a bit, making it suited to growing intensely flavoured, finely structured Rieslings.

 

The Armagh Vineyard

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.

 

The Coonawarra Vineyard

On the southern boundary of Coonawarra is the old Penola cricket ground, which first saw a ball bowled in anger and the flashing cover drives of local champions in 1950.

Jim Barry always had an affection for Coonawarra and the region's fabulous Cabernet Sauvignon fruit, so when the property went on the market, the opportunity to transform it into a vineyard was too good to miss. To preserve a little piece of Coonawarra cricketing history, the original pavilion was retained and the vines were planted around the cricket pitch. 

 

Over thousands of years erosion and air-borne dust have laid down the famous Coonawarra 'terra rossa' soil. The limestone that underlies the area is porous and has an excellent water-holding capacity, providing a very good source of supplementary water during dry periods. Coonawarra lies well south of latitude 37° and it has a cooler climate than many of the other Australian grape-growing regions. This cooler climate results in a much longer ripening season; which in turn produces excellent fruit flavours and unique tannin structure.

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Inside information

Jim Barry Wines picked up two trophies at the 2014 Clare Valley Wine Show on Friday 31st of October. The Benbournie 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon was awarded 'Best Dry Red from Exhibition Sections' while the company was awarded the trophy for 'Best Exhibitor of Show'.

We also received golds for 2013 'The Lodge Hill' Shiraz, 2012 The Benbournie Cabernet Sauvignon and 2010 The Florita Riesling.

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7 different wines with 45 vintages

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