2016 Jim Barry The Armagh Shiraz Clare Valley 6pk 6x750ml

Wow. This is a bold, brassy shiraz that carries a wealth of very intense aromas of ripe blackberries, dark plums, licorice and sweetly spiced earth. Still so very youthful and primary. The palate is so powerful, so mouth-filling and so, so juicy. This manages to deliver such intensity and composure. Supple, long and deep-set tannins and heroically expressive fruit. Really impressive now, but this will deliver much more over the next two decades. One of the finest releases to date. ~99 James Suckling

This is a brilliant wine that makes you sit up and pay attention. Concentrated and mouthwatering with spicy liquorice root and black cherries. Needs a couple more years to fully open but already it packs a punch without being overpowering, and it achieves the feat of great wines where you simply know how good they are by how your palate responds to the effortless balance of tannin, juice and brambled fruit. Long ageing potential also. 3.5pH, 70% French oak, 30% American oak. From sandy gravel soils with full sun exposure meaning natural low yields of around 30hl/ha.~99 Decanter

An opaque ruby core flows into a broad garnet rim. Hints of crushed, ripe blueberry reach the nose alongside a stoninesss reminiscent of wet gravel. A touch of milk chocolate adds creaminess. The palate is defined, generous, dense with fruit and pliable, smooth with fine, ripe tannin, full-flavoured and full-bodied. A bold wine, tamed by vivid freshness. The tannins are edged by chocolate and juiciness. The finish is bold and long. ~97 Falstaff

The 2016 The Armagh Shiraz, tasted in a lineup of four vintages (2016 - 2019), has the highest alcohol of the lot (14.2% alcohol) and remains perfectly in balance. These are not the big wines that we may expect them to be. The vintage variation across them is subtle but evident, revealing the beauty of this single vineyard, planted in 1968. This 2016 wine is now starting to settle into its first drinking window and speaks of an array of deli meats, forest berries, exotic spice and even a hint of red curry paste. This has all the complexity you could want, and in terms of tannins: texture, density and rippling muscles. Sensational stuff. Drink it over the next two decades. ~96 Robert Parker Wine Advocate

This has a stunning, intense mix of salted black licorice, black walnut liqueur, wild blackberry, bittersweet chocolate, cigar box and black cherry preserves that are plump and generous, but balanced with firm, dense tannins, fresh loamy earth and malty Assam black tea on the finish. Intense and harmonious, with a long, expressive finish, where a note of fresh mint lingers. ~96 Wine Spectator

Delivers the fragrant wet earth and raspberry leaf edge that makes Shiraz such a poetic grape in the right hands, and in the right place. As it deepens through the mid palate, this is pure raspberry and plum puree, joyful plump fruit overlaid with peach pits, charred sandalwood and dark chocolate, mouthwatering finish. A lovely wine, subtle yet powerful, you can drink now or wait and allow it to keep ageing in bottle. Submerged cap for maceration, fermentation 18-22C for around 10 days, 20% American oak (the last vintage to use any) and the rest French oak, at around 65% new in 300l hogshead size. Tom Barry winemaker. ~95 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux