Jim Barry - Assyrtiko 2024

Retails for $38-$42, paired with tuna, lemon oil and persimmon tartare.

Heading into winter, we all mentally prepare to see our friends celebrating Euro summer. In hopes to emulate the best parts of the Mediterranean profile, Jim Barry's Assyrtiko will take your right to the Greek islands.

Strong notes of lemon, sea freeze and crisp green apple, perfect for not feeling like you're missing out on Euro Summer.

Fresh, bright and extremely crisp, Assyrtiko is a Greek grape variety calling arid and rocking islands it's home. The slightly salty-mineral flavour, deriving from the volcanic landscape, gives you something completely unique. Usually when I hear 'mineral' as a tasting note, I feel a little fear, but in this wine you find yourself biting into crisp green apple and salty sea breeze in the most refreshing way.

For description sake, it's similar to a Clare Valley Riesling, which is what Jim Barry is best known for, and a huge aspect as to why Jim Barry produces this unique grape.

The vineyard was starting in the mid 2010s, after the brand decided to be the first to grow Arrystiko in Australia. Peter Barry, a member of the family, brought the vine clippings over to Australia himself in an arduous task to introduce something unique and complicated to the vineyards. as a second generation wine marker, he felt a lot of passion about expanding what Jim Barry does, and found something beautiful within the Assyrtiko, which thrives in the warm dry days and crisp cold nights of Clare Valley. 2024 was also a great year for the region, producing less crop but with extremely great quality. This vintage really highlights that with rounded yet fresh flavour, typical of warm ripening days and cool nights.

For you, the most important things to know is that it pairs extremely well with fresh fish, roasting octopus and summer fruits.

I personally paired it myself with a raw tuna dish, topped with preserved lemon, olive oil and persimmon. The Assyrtiko became the perfect accompaniment, refreshing the palate between bites and balancing the oily richness of the tuna with crisp lemon and light sea breeze. It was so light, so fresh and yet incredibly enjoyable.

On it's own, without pairing with seafood, the flavour changes again to become bright crisp fruit of its own, leaning heavily into what you wish a green apple tasted like.

This is one of my new favourite wines and I can see this being a perfect replacement to a dirty martini with oysters, for those who love that flavour profile and want to switch to wine. For myself, I plan on having it with marinated chicken and lemon potatoes next week with family. I can't wait to see how it holds up against smokey warm tastes. Certainly a crowd pleaser.