Clare Valley’s Jim Barry is a name known around the world – a byword for quality and wine expertise. A founding member of Australia’s First Families of Wine, the Barry family celebrated the 60th anniversary of its winery in 2020, the year it also scooped the title of Halliday’s ‘Winery of the Year’. Over three generations the Barry name has been famous throughout the wine world and synonymous with the Clare Valley. Jim Barry bought his first vineyard here in 1959, and even helped the Taylor family open their winery a decade later. Son Peter took over Jim Barry in 1985, and today brothers Tom and Sam, with sister Olivia, have raised the bar even higher. Tom and Sam have been shortlisted for Halliday's Winemaker of the Year 2026. This is a new exclusive, a succulent Malbec from the Clare Valley's high altitude Eastern Ranges.

Mmm Malbec. This delicious, dark-fruited, smoky gem is a natural match with barbecued fare. (And we all know that both Australia and South America do amazing barbecues!) Taste examples from Australia, Argentina and Chile here and see why this wonderful grape is SO popular.

A traditional red grape variety from Bordeaux in France, Malbec is increasingly being grown in Australia. The grape is renowned for its deep colour, generous fruit expression and full flavour. Margaret River wine region offers great growing conditions for the variety. Malbec wines from this region show great depth and beautifully reflect the character of the grape. This is not surprising considering Margaret River and Bordeaux experience similar climatic conditions.

This luscious red comes from Zuccardi - an outstanding, third generation family cellar founded in the 1960s by Don Alberto Zuccardi. A decade before, he'd started an irrigation company, then planted a vineyard to demonstrate to other producers how his system could benefit grape quality. The rest, as they say, is history, and Zuccardi have become one of the leading cellars in Mendoza. Today his grandson Sebastián is winemaker, assisted by Rubén Ruffo. This is a silky, elegant red, with Syrah adding spicy red fruits and structure to Malbec's darker velvety berry notes. Recommended with chilli, a beef stir-fry or on its own.