Legendary winemaker Jim Irvine – The Merlot King – passed away on Sunday at the age of 92.
Jim enjoyed a celebrated 65-year career in the Australian wine industry.
He was world famous for high-end Eden Valley Merlot, a variety many other winemakers – and many consumers – spurned.
“Jim was a friend, mentor and inspiration to many of us,” says Louisa Rose, Grand Master of the Barons of Barossa.
“An innovator unafraid to try something new, and a true legend of the Barossa.”
“He had a remarkable memory and was always generous with a story or two, or ready to listen to one.
“Some of us were lucky enough to hear many of those stories at the 2021 Declaration of Vintage, when he was honoured as our Esteemed Baron for the day.”
Louisa says Jim’s Grand Merlot 1995 was the star of a tasting of 50 wines at The Barossa Cellar a month ago.
Born in 1933, Jim joined Glenloth Wines in 1951 as a laboratory assistant.
He went on to work for Thomas Hardy, Krondorf, Dalgety Wine Estates and Saltram.
Jim established Irvine Wines in the 1980s and won numerous awards including World’s Best Merlot three times.
He had a lifelong passion for Merlot and made it his own.
“In 1981, I had an experience very few have,” he once told Chaine Online News.
“I had two separate tastings of one of the world’s best wines, Chateau Petrus.
“The wonder of this wine never left me and kindled the fire to explore the possibilities of Merlot in Australia.”
Jim sold Irvine Wines to the Wade and Miles families in 2014 and retired in the Barossa.
He continued to produce wine under his new label, Marjico by Jim Irvine.
In January this year Jim announced the sale of his private wine collection through Oddbins.
Jim was inducted as a Baron of Barossa.
“Jim was proud to be inducted as a Baron of Barossa in 1998,” Louisa Rose says.
“And perhaps prouder still to see his daughter, winemaker Jo Irvine, inducted in 2014.
“He will be deeply missed by the Barons, the Barossa, and the many people whose lives he touched.”
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