JIM BARRY AND THE ARMAGH STORY
The story of The Armagh is linked to 19th century ambitions and the post-war development of South Australia’s Clare Valley. The region’s first vineyard was planted around 1842, but a wine industry only began to flourish after 1875 with the huge export market of mostly dry red wine to England. The years between the First and Second World Wars saw significant decline, but after 1945 the Clare Valley began to prosper once again. After graduating from wine studies at Roseworthy Agricultural College in 1947 with diploma number 17, Jim Barry became the first qualified oenologist to work in the region. As the winemaker for the local Clarevale Cooperative, he became friendly with the region’s small community of vignerons and grape growers, including Roly Birks at the 1896-planted Wendouree Vineyard and Brother John May at Sevenhill Cellars. Jim Barry’s circle of friends also included Ian Hickinbotham, Wolf Blass, Max Schubert, Peter Lehmann and David Wynn, who all played crucial roles in the development of South Australia’s fine wine industry. This is significant, because winemaking advances in the Clare Valley were intimately related to their shared experiences and technical skills. “While still at the co-operative, Jim Barry developed his own company and I used his crusher and winemaking facilities to produce my first Barossa Shiraz.” Vigneron Wolf Blass, who became a business partner with Jim Barry in 1964. They made and traded bulk red wine to key South Australian wine producers. In 1959, Jim Barry founded St Clare Cellars, which became Jim Barry Wines in 1982. According to Peter Barry, St Clare Cellars was only the seventh operational winery in the Clare Valley and the second to be built since 1930. Later, in 1968, he also established a joint venture with the
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The Vintage Journal – Verticals
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