Jim Barry Wines’ Peter Barry in stark warning to winemakers

Passing the baton to a new generation at Jim Barry Wines, industry legend Peter Barry warns Australia’s wine industry needs to innovate or die.

Sam Barry, Peter Barry, Olivia Barry and Tom Barry from Jim Barry Wines. Picture Matt Turner.

Innovate or die. That’s the message to Australia’s struggling winemakers from industry veteran Peter Barry as he passes the baton to a third generation at family-owned Jim Barry Wines.

Over close to 50 years in the industry Mr Barry has experienced a number of crises, from the glut and controversial vine pull scheme of the 1980s, to the crushing Chinese tariffs that left winemakers scrambling to find new markets amid a global decline in wine consumption.

But the one thing that has remained a constant over the course of his journey, and what separates the successful companies from those that fail, is the need to innovate and adapt to new trends and challenges.

“If you’ve only been in the industry for 20 years, you’re not used to the adjustments that maybe you have to make,” Mr Barry, 66, said.

“But in my 47 years you know that you have to make adjustments, and some of them are major adjustments. You may have the wrong variety, you may be selling the wrong style, but you have to make those adjustments, and that’s something that my children understand.”

Peter and Sue Barry from Jim Barry Wines. Picture: Matt Turner

After more than 40 years at the helm of the Clare Valley winery, Mr Barry is handing over the reins to sons Tom and Sam, who have been involved in the day-to-day running of the business for the past 15 years as director of winemaking and director of sales.

Daughter Olivia Barry and Tom’s wife Olivia Hoffmann-Barry also work in the business, which was established by Jim and Nancy Barry in 1959, and has become best known for its Watervale Riesling and ‘The Armagh’ Shiraz flagships.

Mr (Peter) Barry has led the company’s expansion into new overseas markets, with Jim Barry wines now sold in more than 20 countries. He also pioneered the introduction of alternative varieties into Australia and the growth of organic winemaking – all part of a focus on innovation and adapting to shifts in consumer tastes and trends.

“Around 18 years ago I brought a variety called Assyrtiko into Australia, which is a heat tolerant variety – a very crisp white wine. So that was seeing climate change that drove me to do that,” he said.

“I’ve driven organics … and you have to constantly change because doing what you did yesterday for the next 40 years possibly won’t work.

“We’ve never been in the business of standing still. My job, with the wise assistance of my wife Sue, was to build on what mum and dad started, and now it’s time for the next generation to do the same.”

Exports make up about 20 per cent of Jim Barry Wines’ annual sales, with the UK and New Zealand the biggest markets, while sales into China have grown to around 15 per cent of the company’s total exports.

Tom, Peter and Sam Barry from Jim Barry Wines. Picture: Matt Turner.

Mr (Peter) Barry first travelled to China in the early 1980s, when he was offered a job to make wine in Qingdao, known for being the home of the Tsingtao brewery.

He spent a couple of vintages there before returning home, but it wasn’t until the tariffs were lifted last year that Jim Barry Wines exported its first product to China.

“When the tariffs were imposed we started to set up distribution for the day that they would drop,” Mr (Peter) Barry said.

“And now that it’s opened up again, we’re putting more effort into those markets, because we think that when people come back to drinking Australian wine after the tariffs, they’ll be quite discerning. We want to be part of that discerning consumer, and we’re finding that’s working quite well.”

Mr (Peter) Barry says that while globalisation of the wine industry has opened up new opportunities for Australian winemakers, the local industry has grown to unsustainable levels, and some rationalisation is needed.

“Wine is challenging for every country that makes wine unless they have very inexpensive costs of production and they can compete on price,” he said.

“We’ve seen France reducing the size of its industry and they’ve been at the forefront of the world for a long time.

“I think we need to reduce the size of our industry. To think that we can grow export markets to take up the overproduction of Australian wine is not really going to happen. I think it’s a dream and you’ve got to be a realist.”

Originally published as Jim Barry Wines’ Peter Barry in stark warning to winemakers