‘2022 could easily be the best vintage in the last 20 years’
In a region that specialises in Riesling – South Australia’s Clare Valley – the Florita Vineyard is widely regarded as one of the very best. In Clare, there is an unusual combination of high elevations and sedimentary soils; the warm climate is tempered by cool breezes and cold nights. It all makes for world-class dry Riesling. The Florita Vineyard wasn’t always planted to Riesling. In days gone by, there were Palomino and Pedro Ximenez vines for ‘Fino Sherry’, or the Australian version thereof. But Riesling vines went into the ground in 1962, and in the decades that followed it became clear this was a great site.
The Barry family acquired the Florita Vineyard in 1986. In many ways, this was the most deserving match possible. Jim Barry was a pioneer of the Clare Valley. His drive shaped Clare as a wine region, and over many decades the Barry family has built up a vineyard mosaic of some of Clare’s best spots.
After a succession of challenging vintages, 2022 saw a year of idyllic conditions. It was dry and sunny, warm but not too hot. As Erin Larkin puts it on robertparker.com, ‘2022 could easily be the best vintage in the last 20 years’. The Florita Riesling always has a tense core that demands time to unfurl, and it is one to hold for now, but the 2022 promises great things for the future. The flower, lemon and lime aromatics are already lovely. /NT
'The Barry brothers sent me a second bottle of the 2022 The Florita Riesling, which I am tasting here today, because they felt that it wasn't showing as well as it could the first time when I tasted it in October (it had only been bottled four weeks prior). In truth, I think it was showing just as well then as it is now, and it is a superstar. 2022 seemed to harness the fruit from the vineyard and boost it: more power, more concentration, more acid, more vivid ... just such exceptional wines. I've said this before, but 2022 could easily be the best vintage in the last 20 years, and for those who know, that takes us back to the great, the age-worthy, the revered 2002 vintage. This is a collector's year. Do not waste the opportunity, because the vintage, coupled with the screw-cap closure, will allow the wine to age for a long time.' 97+ points, Erin Larkin, robertparker.com, Dec 2022
Offered subject to remaining unsold; available Spring 2024
