2016 Jim Barry The Florita Cellar Release Riesling, Clare Valley

There's so much zest appeal in this plus all the purity and class a riesling with provenance can muster. Complex with a heady aroma of white florals, aniseed and fenugreek, lemon barley water, pith-like texture, superfine acidity so it's racy, long and oh-so-pure.

95 points Jane Faulkner winecompanion.com.au Jun 2021

Very light colour and a youthful, restrained floral aroma. The wine is delicate, taut and dry, with a touch of austerity and lots of restraint. There are dried flower characters galore, the palate fresh and clean, bright and frisky with good acidity and loads of energy. Long finish. Excellent wine. Cellar for best results. 18 SEP 2017 Drink 2019–2031

95 points Huon Hooke therealreview.com 

Tasted at the Armagh Hut with Sam and Tom Barry, the 2016 The Florita Riesling is showing some color development for the first time in this vertical. On the nose, there is roasted/toasted pear, red apple skins, a hint of bitter walnut and loads of brine. This is salty, slinky and tense—very impressive. This is quiet and pretty but driven. It is excellent and will be long lived. 2016 was a great red year in Clare.

These wines were tasted with Tom and Sam Barry (third-generation brothers at the helm of Jim Barry) at the Armagh Hut in October 2022. All of the wines have been sealed under Stelvin/screw cap since the first vintage in 2004. The Florita vineyard is five hectares and was re-planted to Riesling in 1962. The legendary John Vickery used to take the best fruit from this vineyard—this was the site of the old Leo Burings (superstar status, especially those from the 1970s). This vineyard gives the best concentration and flavor. Prior to Riesling, the vineyard was planted with Palomino to make Sherry.

Largely free-run juice is used for The Florita Riesling, trying to avoid the pressings for texture. The wines have chalky/talc-y phenolics—that’s the vineyard character—although I see this as a bitter/nut skin/walnut character. The picking decision makes a difference—there is yellow exotic fruit in the earlier wines. More recent wines are its classic lemon lime. The wines have good fruit concentration, phenolics and sugars—1.9 grams per liter to 2.5 grams per liter. According to Jim Barry, the high malic years want a bit of sugar. "We love those years," he says.

I have given the wines a conservative drinking window of 20 years as a minimum, and up to 30 years and beyond for some of the more recent and excellent vintages. They will undoubtedly live longer than this, but the indication provides a window where there will still be an inkling of primary fruit. However, in the immortal words of Stevie Nicks, you must “go your own way...”

95 points Erin Larkin robertparker.com

Jim Barry The Florita Cellar Release Riesling is one of the most important and historically significant Rieslings in Australia, drawn from the legendary Florita Vineyard in the Watervale subregion of the Clare Valley. This remarkable site was planted in 1946 by Florita and Ben Barry, the parents of Jim Barry, on gently rolling limestone and red loam soils that have proven to be perfectly suited to Riesling. The vineyard lies at around four hundred and fifty metres above sea level, giving cool nights and long ripening periods that preserve piercing natural acidity and intense citrus perfume. Jim Barry Wines is now run by the third generation of the Barry family, with Peter Barry and his sons Sam and Tom continuing the tradition, and their long time winemaking team has been responsible for shaping Florita into one of the most collectible and age worthy Rieslings in the southern hemisphere. The cellar release bottling is held back by the winery to allow the wine to develop slowly under ideal conditions, showing Florita in its mature, honeyed and mineral driven phase rather than just its youthful citrus energy.

In the glass this aged Florita Riesling shows a glowing golden straw colour, releasing complex aromas of lime marmalade, kaffir lime leaf, beeswax, honey, toast and subtle floral notes that only come with long bottle age. The palate is intensely flavoured yet beautifully balanced, layering concentrated citrus, lemon curd, almond and a distinctive chalky, almost talc like minerality that comes directly from the Watervale limestone soils. Despite its richness, the wine remains vibrant and dry, driven by a line of electric acidity that keeps it fresh and endlessly drinkable. It is superb with seafood, grilled prawns, pork, Asian inspired dishes and aged hard cheeses, and it will continue to evolve gracefully for decades, gaining more lanolin, spice and savoury complexity as time goes on.