Jim Barry 1998 Watervale Clare Valley Riesling

Old is Gold!

OK so the label is sort of yellow and gold. The wine colour is yellow-gold. However, what I'm really talking about is how it drinks...To paraphrase Bania from Seinfeld; "That's gold Jerry, gold!"

The 1998 vintage produced some of the best Riesling of the 90's, especially in Clare where Riesling is King.

Still under cork, and aged superbly. I'd like to take some credit for my patient and skillful maturing of this wine. After all, I bought it, I stored it, which means I basically did nothing. To quote Seinfeld again; "Its a show about nothing Jerry!" So obviously the Barry family did a lot more work on this than I did.

To start with, the fruit comes from the famous limestone soils of Watervale's Florita vineyard, which John Vickery used to make the famous award winning Leo Buring Rieslings of the 1970's. The Barry's set a record when they purchased this vineyard. It was the most expensive block in Clare to date, but the Barry's had to have it.

Hand picked fruit, cold soaked before crushing, in order to produce a delicate Riesling of great flavour, good acid and low alcohol at only 12.5%

Aromas: honey, kumquat, and quince.

Flavours: kumquat, persimmon, and apricot. Massively developed characters of preserved lemon, baked apple, and kerosene. There were obviously madierized characters from oxidation which added to the complexity of this ethereal wine. The length of this wine could be measure in light years, and it would easily age for another five years as well.

Had it with chicken and mushroom risotto and was in heaven.

Getting back to the price paid for the Florita Vineyard, you have to commend the good people at Jim Barry for their very generous pricing for this particular wine. They're in the Riesling game for the long haul, and are quite passionate about making this the iconic white wine variety it should be. James (Jim) Brazill Barry was the first qualified winemaker to work in the Clare valley. Unfortunately Jim has since passed away, leaving son Peter to run things, and his Brother Mark made the wine until he left to set up his own venture at Mad Bastard Wines, also in Clare Valley.

There is also a new generation of Barry boys making wine now, and I look forward to enjoying their wines long into the future. They also have their own label, Clos Clare, where they make small batches of very nice wines as well.

I paid $16 for it in 1999 when it was called the "Watervale Riesling from the Florita Vineyard". The Watervale Riesling has long since outgrown this single vineyard, and now comes from several of the Barry family vineyards across the district and is damn fine drinking at only $19.00.

"The Florita Vineyard" now is dedicated to the best Riesling the Barry's make, and the current 2013 vintage sells for a bargain at only $45.00. You can also purchase the 2007 directly from the Winery for only $50.00

"That's gold Jerry, Gold!"

Henschke 1992 Eden and Barossa Valley Keyneton Estate Shiraz Cabernet Malbec

"From The Garden of Eden"

It was Sunday afternoon and we decided to crank up some retro vinyl we had just purchased while the wife made her signature T-Bone steak with balsamic vegetables.  As everything was going retro, I decided we needed a wine to suit and went rummaging through the rack back to 1992.  Right there next to the DeLorean time machine, I found this little gem.    

This wine was made long before the good folks at Henschke bothered with putting much emphasis into the marketing aspects of bottle shape, design and weight.   However, as the saying goes, you should never judge a book by its cover.  The bottle may not be heavyweight premium glass, but what’s inside is hot stuff!

This is a premium blend consisting of 70% Shiraz, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Malbec, all from low-yielding, ungrafted dry grown vines in The Eden and Barossa Valleys.

At first glance, this wine was really showing its age. The colour was edging towards brown due to some twenty three years since vintage. 

And then.... Welcome to the Nose! This is incredibly developed, with layer upon layer, as Sara Lee used to say. It has loads of fruit; starting with raisins and currants, fruit compote, leading into forest floor, rhubarb, crushed leaves, and ginger snaps.

The palate is deep. There is a whole bowl-full of dried fruit, raisins, currants, licorice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, white pepper, cardamom, and fennel.

It has a very developed soft palate, with soft tannins, but with persistent length, and it had thrown a very fine, but obvious crust.

Ultimately it is fleshy like a Central Otago Pinot Noir. In other words, it still tastes young and vibrant yet with massive flavours.

Henschke had already won three gold medals with this wine when purchased in 1994, showing some strength at a young age and ready for a long journey ahead.

The wine was at its peak and only just starting decline. If I had more of them, I would drink one every month until they were all gone, and be a very happy man. 

Price when purchased - $22. Current release sells for $50. These days it’s called the “Keyneton Euphonium”, (in tribute to a large brass wind instrument, which featured in the family band founded in 1888).

Current vintage has replaced the Malbec with Merlot and Cabernet Franc and the Henschkes say drink for 20 plus years. I have to say that the price of this wine has only increased by less than $1.50 per year to the current vintage price. There are many big name wines that have increased by more than twice this amount for wines of a similar class.

This is a great example of pricing restraint from one of Australia’s oldest winemaking families.