Loosen Barry brings together Clare Valley grower Jim Barry and Mosel producer Ernst Loosen in a shared Riesling project. The collaboration draws on their friendship and contrasting traditions, combining Australian vineyard character with techniques inspired by historic German winemaking.
A vineyard with a long history
The project’s story begins at Florita, a vineyard in Clare Valley’s Watervale subregion. Planted in 1945 by Leo Buring with Palomino and Pedro Ximénez, Florita became known for Florita Fino, a sherry-style wine aged under flor. The vineyard’s name reflects that history.
In 1962, winemaker John Vickery began replacing the original varieties with Riesling. His wines, made from Florita and other Clare Valley sites, went on to win medals and trophies at wine shows.
When Lindemans put Florita on the market in 1986, Jim Barry bought it despite the risks. Riesling had fallen out of fashion, and the winery was carrying seven years’ worth of unsold stock amid interest rates of around 20%. There was also a dispute over the Florita trademark, which took a decade to resolve. Jim Barry eventually registered the name in 2004.
Today, Riesling has regained popularity, and Florita is one of the region’s best-known sites. Jim Barry holds back about 60% of its annual production as library stock, reflecting the wines’ capacity to age.
The 30-hectare vineyard sits on limestone. Five hectares of its 1962 Riesling plantings remain, and these old, ungrafted vines supply the fruit for roughly 12,000 bottles of Florita Riesling each year. The wine is made using a traditional approach: neutral Champagne yeast, cool fermentation and a few months on fine lees before bottling.
Jim Barry La Florita 2024, Clare Valley — 94/100
From the third of three cooler La Niña vintages, 2024 was the warmest, with good soil moisture. The wine is bright and linear, with fresh acidity, juicy fruit and a subtle saline edge.
Loosen’s approach
Ernst Loosen first met Peter Barry, Sam Barry’s father, in 1995. Their relationship led to further exchanges, including a 2010 vintage in the Mosel by Peter’s son Tom. Loosen recalls that season’s exceptionally high acidity, which required deacidification.
Loosen had been exploring a style of Riesling based on older Mosel practices. From about 1880 to 1920, wines were often kept on their full lees in large barrels for years. In 2016, he and Peter Barry agreed to try adapting this method in Australia. Loosen sent over a large barrel—originally intended to hold 3,000 litres, though it turned out to be 2,800.
The wine fermented naturally, aged in barrel for two years and was bottled unfiltered. Loosen says extended lees ageing and a small amount of micro-oxygenation help integrate Riesling’s acidity and build complexity, while leaving the yeast intact contributes to the wine’s ageing potential.
The collaboration uses fruit from Lodge Hill, a slate-soil vineyard that Loosen found offered longer hang time and greater flavour maturity than Florita. The selected block was planted in 1980. For the project, picking was delayed and the grapes were pressed somewhat harder than those for Florita.
The resulting wine is called Wolta Wolta, the traditional name for the Lodge Hill site. A second collaboration wine, Slate Hill, was introduced in 2023. It is wild-fermented and aged for two years on gross lees in stainless steel.
Barry Loosen Slate Hill Riesling 2023, Clare Valley — 94/100
Delicate and stony, with apricot and white-peach notes. Refined and textured, it finishes with crystalline citrus character.
The collaboration wines
Loosen initially wanted Wolta Wolta bottled under cork and sent 4,000 bottles with individually TCA-tested corks to Australia. The winery lacked the equipment to use them, however, so the wine was bottled under screwcap.
Wolta Wolta sells for A$120, a new price level for Australian Riesling. Jim Barry is also developing Florita Solera, a lees-aged blend of Florita Riesling from several vintages, which is expected to set another high benchmark for the category.
Loosen Barry Wolta Wolta Riesling 2022, Clare Valley — 94/100
Taut and focused, with a touch of richness. Citrus and lemon lead, with pear, concentration and a textured structure that should develop with time.
Loosen Barry Wolta Wolta Riesling 2017, Clare Valley — 95/100
Broad yet fresh, with citrus, pear, apple and a hint of aniseed. It is precise and drinking beautifully now.
Loosen Barry Wolta Wolta Riesling 2016, Clare Valley — 96/100
Deep and refined, with a creamy note alongside melon, pear, citrus and a touch of apricot. It has impressive weight and texture.
Dr Loosen Erdener Prälat Auslese Goldkapsel 2023, Mosel — 95/100
At 9% alcohol and almost entirely botrytised, this Riesling is youthful and mineral, with apricot, pear, melon and bright acidity.