2022 Jim Barry The Florita Riesling, Clare Valley

An impressive release from an impressive season. Understated, yet piles on the detail with minerally inflections, powdery-chalky texture, barely there savoury elements and a cavalcade of citrus, floral and pithy elements. It's decidedly intense, concentrated to the max and has a superb carry of flavour, lingering with palate-staining fruit, spice and minerality in spades. This is riesling in technicolour and surround sound. Darn awesome.

96 points Special Value ✪ Mike Bennie winecompanion.com.au Aug 2023

Transfixes you with the first sip and builds its intensity without effort, its length even more so. Riesling and naked power seldom come to terms with each other, but here the wine's deep-set layers of steely acidity are underlined with lime/lemon essence through to a finish without end.

98 points Halliday's Top 100 Nov 2022

A seriously structured Clare Valley dry riesling that’s been built for long-term aging. Needs a bit of aeration to allow a slew of floral aromas to develop. Super focused on the sleek and dangerously energetic palate. The very long, wet stone finish suggests that the patient will be richly rewarded! Drinkable now, but best from 2023. Screw cap.

95 points jamessuckling.com

Florita’ is Spanish for ‘little flower’. Located fifteen kilometres south of Clare township in the tiny village of Watervale, the famous Riesling vineyard was planted to Palamino in 1946 for making Fino Sherry, and replanted to Riesling in 1962. The birthplace of Leo Buring Watervale Riesling, Florita was where legendary winemaker John Vickery sourced his grapes for his great Watervale Rieslings of the 1960s and 1970s. The 80-acre vineyard was sold by globally-owned multi-national company, Lindeman's to brother's Mark, Peter and John Barry in 1986.

First released as the 'Florita Riesling' in 2004 by Jim Barry Wines, this micro-batch Riesling is made from grapes hand-selected from individual rows. Its best fruit comes from vines planted in shallow loamy soils and the vineyard has good air-drainage which alleviates the risk of frost

The story of Riesling in Australia is as old as the wine industry itself. The famed Florita Vineyard is synonymous with the classic grape variety and was established by Leo Buring in 1962. In 1986 the Barry family acquired the 80 acre property and began to write the next chapter in the famous vineyard’s history.