2022 Jim Barry The McRae Wood Shiraz, Clare Valley

The 2022 The McRae Wood Shiraz is perfumed and spicy on the nose, with a palate to match. Here, we have pomegranate, eucalypt, blueberry, star anise, hints of clove and dark chocolate. It's all there. This is an excellent wine. Drink 2024 to 2037.

94 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, September 2025

Very deep, bold and bright red-purple colour which stains the glass. Blackberry conserve/poached plum aromas, the flavour powerful and assertive, full-bodied and firm with lashings of tannin and a concentrated flavour that rolls long on the finish. A very solid red that inspires cellaring. Drink 2027 to 2038.

92 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, January 2025

Jim Barry was the first qualified winemaker in the Clare Valley, and the business he founded in 1959 has remained in family hands across three generations since. In 1964 he purchased 70 acres of prime farmland from neighbour Duncan McRae Wood to plant his first Shiraz vineyard. An inspired choice of both variety and location that set the course for everything that followed.

The McRae Wood vineyard is also home to the fruit behind the family's iconic The Armagh. This wine draws on that same vineyard alongside select parcels from the family's other Clare Valley holdings, and now in its fourth decade has built its own considerable reputation.

Winemakers Tom Barry and Ben Marx have produced a Shiraz that is stylish and composed from the first pour. The nose is warm and refined — blue fruits and spice with seamlessly integrated purple and black notes. The palate arrives with generosity and weight but remains poised, with purple-fruited characters leading through layered, fine tannins. The finish is long and beautifully even.

Drinking well now with appropriate decanting, and built to cellar to 2040. Serve at 16–18°C alongside slow-roasted lamb or a well-aged hard cheese.