The McRae Wood Shiraz, Jim Barry Wines, Clare Valley, Australia

Jim Barry, Icon, Legend, Peak Clare Valley in a bottle. I read with great pleasure that Duncan himself has a special memory of this producer and the Mcrae Wood in particular during a recent newsletter. I myself used to work in the wine industry and it was during my time perhaps one of the absolute favourite bottles I tried during my time in the industry. To say that this bottle and producer has stuck with me over 15 years or more is itself indicative of the overwhelming power and quality of this wine. Jim Barry is one of the first founding families of wine in Australia, and purchased a parcel of land they named after the former owner in his honor 'Mcrae', which forms the origin story behind this spectacular wine. I find that the wine does benefit from decanting for at least an hour, and even then can take a little time to open up in the glass on the nose. But once it does on the nose, there are bright cherries and ripe plums in abundance, dark loamy earth, and a hint of cedar. The palate is where this wine truly transforms into something rare and truly special. A beautiful backbone of acidity allows dark fruit, oak and ripe cherry to burst in the mouth. This wine is an excellent accompaniment to a good steak, but I find that the body is surprisingly medium minus and therefore alongside its structure and fruit is eminently enjoyable on its own too. I cannot recommend this South Australia Shiraz more highly. Thank you Duncan in particular for including a rare 2012 bottle in my allocation I suspect deliberately generously knowing that I am a fellow evangelical for this exceptional wine and producer.