2023 Loosen Barry Slate Hill Riesling
2023 Loosen Barry Slate Hill Riesling

2023 Loosen Barry Slate Hill Riesling

Jim Barry |Clare Valley |Riesling
An easygoing Clare Riesling from the Loosen-Barry partnership – bright, textural and just that little bit more approachable than Wolta Wolta.
5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
1 Review
Price:
$39.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

Slate Hill is the latest spin from the Loosen Barry crew – born out of a 30-year friendship between Mosel’s Ernst Loosen and the Barry family in Clare. After years of making Wolta Wolta together, they decided to add a second wine to the mix, something a little easier to approach but still carrying that same attention to detail.

The fruit comes off the Wolta Wolta property, picked late in the season for extra flavour and ripeness. Fermentation was left to run wild in stainless steel, then cooled down to keep a touch of natural sweetness in the wine. From there it rested on lees in tank for two years – no stirring, no oak, just patience.

What you get is a Riesling that’s bright and juicy, with citrus and stone fruit at the core and a chalky, mineral finish. There’s a little softness from the residual sugar, but it still feels crisp and clean, built for drinking young but with enough interest to keep you coming back.

Gary Walsh

Gary Walsh

The Wine Front 94 Points

This carries 6g/L residual sugar, which is not much, just enough to give it some succulence. Spends two years in tank on gross lees (no stirring, which is perhaps unusual for an Australian).

Lots of perfume here, quite a potpourri thing happening, sweet green apple, lime and lemon sherbet. It’s juicy and flavoursome, fine powdery texture, pink grapefruit and lime leaf, a lively citrus tang to acidity, with a fragrant finish of excellent length and lime rind bite. Very good. It’s different to your average Clare, so that’s a feather in its hat too.

Customer Reviews

5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 1 review
Total 5 star reviews: 1 Total 4 star reviews: 0 Total 3 star reviews: 0 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
1 review
  • VD
    Victoria D.
    Verified Buyer
    1 month ago
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    2023 Loosen Barry Slate Hill Riesling

    Such a bright, balanced and juicy Riesling that isn’t too sweet. Lovely for pairing with exotic flavors in dishes. Love it!

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The Remarkable Friendship
The remarkable and enduring friendship between Mosel superstar Ernst Loosen of Dr. Loosen fame and Clare Valley legends the Barry family goes back some 30 years, to 1995 and the London Wine Fair. 1995 was the peak era of Aussie wine taking the UK wine trade by storm. Big brands such as Lindeman’s, Wolf Blass and Penfolds were fresh(ish) on the scene and making waves in what was once the epicentre of the stuffy and long-established wine world.

The UK, and London in particular, has a long and fabled history with the wine trade where old traditional merchants and traders have been brokering deals and trading wine for centuries. Friendships have been brokered and broken over that time too, but the fresh-faced Aussies set about dismantling the established status quo with their new wave, forward-thinking modern approach and their outgoing personalities, changing the face of the world of wine forever.

Whereas many of the original ‘brands’ that established Aussie wines as a mainstay for the British palate have morphed into being the playthings of international conglomerates, Jim Barry Wines remains staunchly independent and family run. Jim Barry himself was the first qualified winemaker in the Clare Valley, graduating from Roseworthy Agricultural College in 1947. Third-generation growers Sam and Tom Barry recently took over the reins of the family business from their father, Peter. Sam and Tom remain as committed to exploration today as the family have been for the 80 years that came before them.

The Dr. Loosen Estate dates back well over 200 years, but under the auspices of Ernst it has gone on to become a beacon of light for not only Riesling, but for discovery, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, and generally striving to make things better and more interesting for the wine lover whether they hail from Germany, Australia, the USA, Portugal or France—all countries where Erni has struck up relationships with like-minded growers and either has his own winery or a collaboration on the go.

Fast forward to today and, sprouting from a mutual respect and deep admiration for the noble variety Riesling, Ernst and the Barry crew not only remain great friends, but they also have a now well-established collaboration coming out of the Clare Valley in the guise of their brilliant LoosenBarry project (see what they did there...). A project representing German craftsmanship expressed through the lens of Australian terroir.

Fueled by passion, camaraderie, shared wisdom, and a collective love for Riesling, this project weaves together two strong family narratives, experiences, and the bonds of friendship. The project has steadily evolved as the inquisitive nature of Erni and the Barry boys continues to be fostered. Whilst the early releases saw a wine from the Clare and a wine from the Mosel telling the LoosenBarry tale, today we see the next stages of progress as the two wines from the LoosenBarry stable now hail exclusively from the Clare Valley.

The 6th commercial release of the deep, cerebral and exhilarating Wolta Wolta Riesling—hailing from the 2022 harvest—has a new thirst-quenching bedfellow in the form of the inaugural release of Slate Hill Riesling, coming out of the 2023 growing season.

The Vineyard
Originally a pastoral run dating back to 1839, Jim Barry purchased a parcel of land in the area known as ‘Wolta Wolta’ in 1977, as he was sure it would “produce some of the best Riesling in the Clare Valley.” Later renamed The Lodge Hill, it is situated 480 metres above sea level, on the eastern ranges of the Clare Valley, on brown loam over clay and slate bedrock, which dates back roughly 900 million years.

The vines are exposed to concentrated bursts of sunlight and cool nights which encourage slower ripening.

The Wines
The LoosenBarry collaboration has always been about pushing boundaries, taking risks, and elevating the profile of what we believe to be the most noble grape variety—Riesling. Wolta Wolta was the first expression of this vision. Our experience with this wine inspired us to create a second wine under the LoosenBarry partnership: Slate Hill.

After 10 years of making Wolta Wolta, we began to understand how Australian-grown Riesling performs when aged on gross lees in oak. Naturally, we became curious about how the wine would evolve when aged on lees in stainless steel. Over several vintages, we observed a similar development in texture and flavour between the two wines, though Slate Hill retained more of its approachable, ripe stone fruit character, while Wolta Wolta leaned towards being more savoury and complex.

At that point, we decided to expand the LoosenBarry offering. In February 2023, during Erni’s annual visit to Clare, we selected two additional blocks from our Wolta Wolta property with similar soil composition and exposure to the original Riesling block.

Fortuitously, 2023 turned out to be the perfect vintage to begin. It was the latest Riesling harvest we’ve had since the outstanding 2017 vintage, allowing for extended hang time and, in turn, enhanced aroma and phenolic maturity.

100% estate grown Riesling
Alc/vol: 12.3%
Total Acid: 7.1 g/L
pH: 3.01
RS: 3.8 g/L

The modern-day standard bearer for all Clare Valley Riesling, Wolta Wolta is a dry German-style Riesling, an “Aussie GG” if you will. Its name, meaning ‘Good Water’ in the Aboriginal language, was the original name given to the land on which the Barry family’s famous The Lodge Vineyard is planted.

Wolta Wolta is grown on Block 18 of The Lodge Vineyard, planted in 1979. This block was specifically chosen because of its location in a slightly cooler pocket of the vineyard, allowing for additional hang-time to coax out maximum flavour, concentration, and phenolic ripeness—a nod to the methods cherished in the Mosel at Dr. Loosen.

Destemmed and crushed, the fruit was then pressed into stainless steel for 12 hours to settle before being racked into a 3,000-litre German oak Fuder cask. The wine then rested on full yeast lees for 23 months at 10°C before being transferred to stainless steel, where it sat on fine lees at 1°C for a further month.

– Sam Barry

Price Bracket $31 to $40
Type White
Body Light Bodied
Variety Riesling
Country Australia
Region Clare Valley
Australian State SA
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Critic Score 94
Alcohol 12.5%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Screw Cap

Jim Barry

Jim Barry Wines is a family affair in the Clare Valley.

Founded by one of SA's most influential wine figures, this producer has been one of the most acclaimed in the region since it began in 1974.

They focus primarily on traditional Clare Valley varieties, with a myriad of laser-sharp Rieslings, powerful Shiraz and intense Cabernet blends making up the foundations of the range. With a sprawling range including everything from super-premium to top value, they are considered a cornerstone of the Clare with classic wines that develop beautifully in the cellar given time.

Now, with the third generation of Barrys - Sam, Tom and Olivia - now in charge of the winemaking, marketing and business development, there is a new energy about the brand and there are plenty of exciting new things on the horizon.

Peter, Tom & Sam Barry - Clare Valley Jim Barry

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