Brian Barry Wines - Clare Valley SA

Brian Barry Wines in South Australia’s Clare Valley produces one of the best Australian white wines – a superb riesling - Jud's Hill Riesling.

”There’s only one white wine worth making – that’s Riesling”
Brian Barry.

When Brian Barry graduated from South Australia’s renowned Roseworthy College, the Australian wine industry was in its infancy. He was just the 22nd person to complete the Diploma, leaving as Dux of the Class in 1948.

In 1973, he won Australia’s most prestigious wine trophy, “The Jimmy Watson”, using only South Australian Riverland grapes. The feat had not been achieved before and has not been repeated since.

However, after 30 years of making wine for other people, Brian wanted to pursue his winemaking instincts unfettered. There was no doubt about what he would make or where he would make it.

“There’s only one white wine worth making – that’s Riesling”, says Brian. “And there’s only one place worth making it.”

He’s talking about South Australia’s Clare Valley. In 1977, he bought a vineyard there and named it Juds Hill, after his only son.

Entering a wine from just his third harvest in the 1983 Royal Adelaide Show, Brian won the award for Best White Wine. Since then Brian Barry wines have won a staggering 135 Gold, Silver and Bronze awards.

Brian considers the vineyard’s elevation to be critical to his success. Juds Hill is at 500m, which delivers the cool temperatures that Riesling grapes thrive on - without overdoing it. “We’ve never had a frost in that vineyard”.

But his proudest achievements have come through his collaborations with one of Australia’s finest emerging winemakers: his son, Jud.

Jud highlights the influence of the vineyard’s soil – and he’s not just talking about the spectacular surface Terra Rossa. “There is a limestone substrata that’s incredibly porous. In winter it soaks up the rains that the vines then draw on for the rest of the year.”

This allows them to have a totally unirrigated vineyard that delivers quality rather than quantity. “We have small berries, and small bunches, but that means the flavours are less diluted”, says Barry.

They pick their fruit from 10pm and Jud follows the harvester until 5.30am to make sure the grapes are delivered to the winery at the coldest time of the day. He knows the path well. He’s been following in his father’s footsteps for more than 30 years.

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