Wine of the week: a mighty leviathan

2005 Jim Barry, PB Shiraz/Cabernet, Clare Valley, South Australia (£32.99, Noel Young, 01223-566744; SH Jones, 01295-672296; Planet of the Grapes, 020-7405 4912; Hermitage Cellars, 01243-431002; Abbey Wines, 01896-823224).

This is the first wine that I have written about in MoneyWeek which isn't available for sale yet (excluding en primeur wines, of course). PB is on the water' a glorious expression meaning it's in the back of a canoe being paddled from Port Adelaide to our shores.

You can, however, order this phenomenal creation from the prescient and exemplary merchants above whose anticipation levels are no doubt matched by my own. The 2005 PB arrives in six weeks and it is one of Australia's greatest red wines. The 2006, which arrives later on this year, is in my 100 Best Australian Wines list, too!

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It is made by Peter Barry (hence PB) from about 70% Benbournie (their iconic cabernet) and 30% McRae wood shiraz (the 2005 was actually in this column on 14 May 2010), and it is a mighty, leviathan of a cult wine, with towering tannins and indomitable fruit character.

It is the essence of Clare heroic, impactful, memorable and a ridiculous bargain bearing in mind its imperial quality. Both the 2005 and 2006 scored 19/20 in my notes you must collect this wine.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (www.matthewjukes.com).

Matthew Jukes has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006.

He has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.