2019 Jim Barry The Florita Riesling Cellar Release, Clare Valley

Tasted at the Armagh Hut with Sam and Tom Barry, the 2019 The Florita Riesling leads with layers of every kind of apple on the nose—red, green and Golden Delicious apples in profusion. This is a big step toward development from the 2020, and certainly the 2022! There is honeysuckle and toast through the finish. This is fresher than the 2020 in some ways but related by their warm, dry seasons. Drink 2022 to 2039.

93 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, December 2022

Jim Barry was the first qualified winemaker in the Clare Valley, and the business he founded in 1959 has remained in family hands for three generations. The Florita is the family's flagship Riesling: a micro-batch wine drawn from individual rows of the historic Florita vineyard in Watervale, fifteen kilometres south of Clare.

The vineyard's story stretches back to 1946, when it was planted to Palomino for Fino Sherry production, before being replanted to Riesling in 1962. It was here that legendary winemaker John Vickery sourced the fruit for his celebrated Leo Buring Watervale Rieslings of the 1960s and 1970s, wines that defined Clare Valley Riesling for a generation. The Barry family purchased the 80-acre property in 1986, and after nearly two decades of patience, launched The Florita Riesling in 2004.

The best fruit comes from shallow loamy soils over deep limestone. Grapes are hand-harvested in the cool of the night, destemmed without crushing, and pressed to retain primarily free-run juice. Cold fermentation in stainless steel preserves fruit purity, vineyard character and natural acidity. The wine has been sealed with a screwcap from the outset, protecting every vintage through decades of development. Over fifty percent of production is held back for release at between seven and twenty years of age.

The 2019 was a warm, dry season in Clare — not the most forgiving conditions for Riesling, though the Florita vineyard's elevation and natural concentration carried it well. Now showing significant development, the 2019 has moved away from primary citrus into a more generous, apple-driven profile: red, green and Golden Delicious apple in profusion, with honeysuckle and a developing toastiness on the finish. Fresher than other warm vintage contemporaries, with the vineyard's characteristic chalky, talc-like phenolics keeping everything focused and alive. A wine that rewards the glass and the table in equal measure.

Drink now through 2039.