Florita is Jim Barry's flagship Watervale Riesling, drawn from a historic 80-acre vineyard fifteen kilometres south of Clare township. The site was originally planted in 1946 and replanted to Riesling in 1962, becoming the source of John Vickery's celebrated Watervale Rieslings of the 1960s and 1970s. The Barry brothers acquired the vineyard from Lindeman's in 1986.
The wine is a hand-selected, micro-batch Riesling first released in 2004. Fruit is hand-harvested in the cool of the night, meticulously sorted, chilled and cool-fermented in stainless steel to preserve every nuance of the site. Watervale's red-brown earth over limestone gives Florita a distinctive lemon-driven cut alongside a softer, savoury core.
This Museum Release of the 2019 vintage has been held back at the winery and aged before release to show the variety's celebrated capacity for cellar development. The youthful citrus has shifted into wild honey, lemon rind and lime flesh, with bath-salt minerality and a tonic-like savoury edge marking the long, intense finish.
Vintages may vary. Email us at hello@barrelandbatch.com.au if you would like confirmation.