Wine Advisor
Jim Barry, The Armagh Shiraz 2012
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Opaque, bright-rimmed ruby. A complex array of ripe dark fruits and pungent flowers take on suggestions of vanilla, clove, star anise and roasted coffee. Broad and alluringly sweet on the palate, offering deeply concentrated cassis, cherry liqueur, spicecake and mocha flavors that show impressive energy for their heft. Delivers outstanding clarity and spicy drive on an extremely long, sweet finish that features velvety tannins and lingering smokiness.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2012 Shiraz The Armagh offers a gorgeous perfume of baking spices, violets, Sichuan pepper and fragrant earth. More earthy and savory in the mouth than on the nose, the palate is superbly structured and taut—built for the long-haul—with a long, complex finish. Still very youthfully, forget this wine for 3-5 more years and consider drinking it over the next 20+.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2012 Shiraz The Armagh has a very complex nose of ripe, red and blackcurrants, black cherries accented by hints of aniseed, beef, fertile earth and dried herbs. Medium-bodied, the mouthfilling and intense palate has elegant earthy and savory nuances seamlessly intertwined with pure fruit and shaped by ripe, rounded tannins, balanced freshness and a very long, structured finish.
Reviewed by: Erin Larkin
The 2012 Shiraz The Armagh was bottled 60% under Stelvin and 40% under cork. This is bottle I'm tasting from is Stelvin. There is quince and raisin on the nose and in the mouth here. It's really delicious, with soft eating-licorice on the mid-palate. Note of ferrous and blood plume through the wine. There is peat and lichen too, along with freshly turned earth; I love the middle palate through to the finish, which is particularly good. It has a tight finish and is the lowest in alcohol (13.7%) of the lineup, from the cool year that was 2012. It matured for 20 months in 60% new French and 40% new American hogsheads (300 liter). It's hard to imagine that this will do anything other than age exceptionally gracefully.
About the Producer
A top winery that has also received praise from Robert Parker and James Halliday Jim Barry is one of the few wineries in Australia to have received a five-star rating from renowned Australian wine critic James Halliday. The winery is located in the Clare Valley, with approximately 247 hectares of land and a few vineyards in the Coonawarra region, which produces Australia's finest Cabernet. Jim Barry's top wine, The Armagh, has been publicly praised by Robert Parker as one of Australia's iconic wines and has been ranked by Langton's, Australia's leading wine auction house, as one of the best value Australian wines alongside flagship wines from Penfolds, Henschke and other leading Australian wineries. The Armagh range has been ranked by Langton's as one of the best value Australian wines.
