Assyrtiko Clare Valley 2018 – Jim Barry Wines

It was Jim Barry’s drive that helped shape South Australia’s Clare Valley as a benchmark producer of world class Riesling and cemented it as one of Australia’s premier wine regions. Jim was the first qualified winemaker in the Clare Valley, graduating with a degree in oenology from the prestigious Roseworthy Agricultural College in 1947. Founded in 1959, Jim Barry Wines is still family owned, with three generations of Roseworthy graduates. Jim’s son Peter became managing director in 1985 and today Peter’s children Tom, Sam and Olivia are the winemaker, commercial manager and brand ambassador respectively. Voted ‘2020 Winery of the Year’ at the Halliday Wine Companion Awards they produce highly acclaimed and award-winning wines.

Assyrtiko

Assyrtiko is arguably Greece‘s most iconic wine grape variety.
It has developed a reputation as being so versatile. Wines are made in a multitude of styles, from fresh, minerally white wines (some versions are fermented in barrel) to rich, nutty dessert wines known as Vinsanto.
Naturally high acidity means that Assyrtico wines can age for many years.
Jim Barry is the first winery in Australia to have planted the greek variety Assyrtiko. Vine cuttings were taken from a single 300-year-old, dormant and pre-phyloxera vine from the Argyros Estate, Santorini, that would, after a couple of years in quarantine, become two mother vines. These two mother Assyrtiko vines became 658 and in 2012, Lodge Hill was selected as the first site in Australia to be be planted with the indigenous vines of Santorini.