The friendship between Ernst Loosen, of the Dr. Loosen Estate in Germany, and Peter Barry, of Jim Barry Wines, Australia, began in 1995 at the London Wine Fair. Forged out of mutual respect for the noble variety Riesling, this collaboration of ideas pays homage to the wine making techniques used by the Loosen family for generations, and the vineyard practices of the Barry family.
The German-style Riesling made in Australia is called Wolta Wolta, (Aboriginal for ‘good water’) in honour of one the Barry family’s most significant and successful land purchases, which later became known as Lodge Hill. The Australian-style Riesling, made with grapes from the Erdener Treppchen Vineyard in Germany, is called Walhalla, (pronounced Valhalla) named after the majestic hall ruled over by Odin in Norse mythology.
It was no simple task for an Australian winemaker to make a German-style Riesling and vice versa, but when each winemaker can draw on forty years of experience of their counterpart, the possibilities are genuinely intriguing, and even though Peter and Tom Barry were uncertain they could make such a different style of Riesling, they were delighted with the outcome.
This project is not about sales. This is a project of passion, designed to test the skills, explore the possibilities, and hopefully, get people thinking about Riesling in a different way.