20/20 for 2006 'The Armagh' Shiraz

We are very proud to announce that our 2006 Armagh Shiraz has received a perfect 20/20 score from the UK’s leading wine critic.

Announced on the 17th of May, the 2006 Armagh received the rare 20/20 accolade from wine writer Matthew Jukes who announced his 100 Best Australian Wines at a special function in London’s West End.

Jukes was glowing in his praise for the Jim Barry Shiraz portfolio but was especially excited by the Armagh.

“With more truffles and well-hung game than a Piemontese banquet and so much latent power that it makes me feel bashful to even type its name, 2006 The Armagh is a perfect expression of its site and it is also an awe-inspiring encapsulation of the paradise that is the Clare Valley. For me this means that it is a rare 20/20 wine,” Jukes said.

Winemaker Peter Barry said he was “tremendously excited” about the award.

“Matthew told me on Sunday but I had to keep it a secret,” Peter said.

“The Armagh is one of only two wines given a perfect score (the other being the 2006 Penfolds Grange) by one of the world’s leading critics who tastes more than 15,000 wines a year. It is the equivalent in the UK of a 100 point score from US critic Robert Parker….or making a century at Lords.”

Peter dedicated the win to the hundreds of other Australian winemakers who are gathered in the UK this week for the largest wine show in the world, The London Wine Trade Fair.

“This is a win for Jim Barry Wines, our dedicated viticultural and winemaking team, but also for the great Australian wine industry,” he said. “Australia has been doing it tough for the last few years in traditional markets such as the UK. We have been battling a high dollar and a tough retail environment following the GFC.

“We haven’t even been able to win the Ashes,” the cricket tragic said.

“But I can sense that the tide is turning. There is definitely a sense of renewed interest in Australia and I’m thrilled that a wine such as the Armagh, which comes from very old vines near Clare, will get some good press in the UK and help the industry as a whole.

Jukes was glowing about the quality of Australian wines in general.

“Australia is at the top of its game these days and I regularly have to pinch myself when I realise just how stellar the talent is in this country,” he said.

Peter has just arrived in London from Canada, where he took part in an international promotion by Australia’s First Families of Wine.

“There has been a similar positive reaction there,” Peter said. “The Liquor Control Board of Ontario has the monopoly on all wine sales in Canada and they were very excited about listing more of our Shiraz and other varietals.”

Started by Peter’s father in 1959, and now entering its third generation with Peter’s sons taking over winemaking and marketing, Jim Barry Wines is one of the Clare Valley’s best known wineries. While it has a strong reputation for its Rieslings, the Armagh is the company’s flagship Shiraz. It is sourced from a 45-year-old vineyard planted on the hills west of Clare, named by Irish settlers after County Armagh in their homeland.

The 100 Best Australian Wine list is the result of exhaustive tastings by wine critic and journalist Matthew Jukes over the last twelve months and it represents the finest one hundred Australian wines available on High Street shelves in the UK. Matthew Jukes is also the patron of Adelaide’s own TouchWine event run by the Hutt Street Centre that raises money to help care for Adelaide’s homeless community.

“I want to also thank our dedicated viticultural and winemaking team back in Clare, all the hard work was worth it guys.”