Jim Barry Spring Farm Block 73 Shiraz 2021

Written By Campbell Mattinson
Bottle of Jim Barry Spring Farm Block 73 Shiraz 2021

Jim Barry Spring Farm Block 73 Shiraz 2021
$200, 13.9% alcohol, screwcap, Clare Valley

The unusual thing about this wine is its tannin. It’s not just tannic, it’s an unusual kind of tannin, almost earthen, certainly dry, a bit smoky, almost sooty. This tannin stands out, though it is inlaid with boysenberry and blueberry fruit flavours, and peppermint, and cocoa, and a twiggy aspect, and a nut-shell note. Indeed it’s distinctive all around. It’s also worth pointing out that this wine is not a blockbuster; it’s a powerful wine, but it’s a quiet kind of power. I personally wouldn’t be dropping $200 on this wine but single block wines, by definition, should be distinctive, and it definitely nails that brief, and then some, in a context of sheer quality. 95 points.

Campbell Mattinson

This post was written by Campbell Mattinson. Mattinson is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of The Winefront business. He is the author of five books on wine – four of which were bestsellers (The Wine Hunter, the Big Red Wine Book 2008, the Big Red Wine Book 2009, and the Big Red Wine Book 2010).

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the national Best Australian Sports Writing Award. In 2026 three of his photographs were short-listed for the World Food Photography Awards.

Campbell Mattinson, who is 100% independent, has tasted between 5000 and 10,000 wines each and every year for the past 25 years. He tastes blind, in comparative brackets, as often as is practicable.

Campbell Mattinson is a journalist, a photographer, a filmmaker and a wine critic. In all of these mediums his prime motive is to tell people's stories.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
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