2023 Loosen Barry Wolta Wolta Riesling, Clare Valley

Green tints. Amazing freshness and zest. Lime juice and slight yeastiness. Lively acidity that seems a touch higher than most vintages. Bright and incisive; high energy and real finesse. Tension, refinement, line and length. A beautiful wine indeed. It showed a different face today than when previously tasted. Drink to 2039.

98 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, January 2026

The 2023 Loosen Barry Wolta Wolta Dry Riesling looks jarringly fresh and primary in the face of the older vintages tasted alongside here today. The season was cooler and wetter than the preceding six vintages, and it has yielded a wine of leanness and precision here. While the grace and complexity of the wine will not be revealed for some years yet, the material is embedded within the structure of the wine, and it remains impressive and exciting here. This is a superb wine, as they all are. The wine carries four to five grams of residual sugar and was matured on the gross lees (sans bâtonnage) for two years, followed by a year in bottle prior to release. Drink to 2046.

96+ points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, April 2026

A lovely collaboration combining Erni Loosen's Mosel experience and extended aging in 3,000-liter foudres on full lees with some of the best parcels from the Barry family in Clare Valley. Restrained and understated with white orchard fruits, fresh lime juice, citrus peel, citrus oil, pear, white pepper, summer flowers, fresh herbs and gun smoke. The palate is textural and mid-weighted with a creamy feel, bright acidity and a mineral reductive edge. Still with plenty of time ahead in bottle but drinking very well now. Drink or hold.

96 points Ryan Montgomery for James Suckling, September 2026

The wine is matured in a 3000L foudre and fermented with wild yeast. This is out of the box. Excellent, to give the crib notes. Medium-weight riesling of texture and great interest, plus deliciousness. Savoury elements ripple through in sourdough and cashew nut complexity with red apple, gentle, sweet stone fruit characters, blackcurrant, faint tropical fruit notes and a little leafy, herbal complexity. It's highly perfumed, deeply flavoured, glossy and long in its persistence. Sublime stuff here.

96 points Mike Bennie for Halliday Wine Companion

Loosen Barry is one of the most exciting partnerships in Australian wine, bringing together Ernst Loosen of Germany's legendary Dr Loosen estate and Peter Barry of Clare Valley icon Jim Barry Wines. Their shared passion for Riesling and belief in the potential of Australian terroir has produced wines that blend German precision with unmistakable Clare Valley character.

Wolta Wolta, meaning "good water" in the local Indigenous language, is sourced from the cool higher altitude vineyards of the Clare Valley. The combination of warm days, cool nights and ancient soils creates Rieslings of remarkable intensity and longevity, while the influence of Ernst Loosen brings a focus on purity and site expression.

The colour is a brilliant pale straw with youthful green highlights. Aromas of freshly squeezed lime, lemon blossom and green apple leap from the glass alongside hints of jasmine and wet stone. The palate is tightly wound and energetic, layering vibrant citrus flavours over a fine mineral spine. There is wonderful concentration here, balanced by bright acidity and a finish that is long, dry and mouth watering.

Delicious in its youth yet built to reward careful cellaring for well over a decade.