Standish The Standish Shiraz 2019

James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Australia 2021

Dan Standish has the Barossa Valley running through his veins. A 6th Generation native, Dan created his Standish label in 1999 whilst still working at Torbreck. Today his wines are some of the most highly sought-after in the world and are critically acclaimed both here in Australia and internationally.

"Such concentrated blueberry and cherry aromas, as well as violets and fresh-earth aromas. This delivers an immediate sense of richness with chocolate in the mix, too. Very pure. The palate has a very resolved feel with deep, essence-like fruit flavors that hold a rich, plum and blackberry line that drives long and very even. This is really something."  James Suckling

Erin Larkin reviews the 2019 Standish The Standish Shiraz (4:55 into the video)

Expert reviews

"Such concentrated blueberry and cherry aromas, as well as violets and fresh-earth aromas. This delivers an immediate sense of richness with chocolate in the mix, too. Very pure. The palate has a very resolved feel with deep, essence-like fruit flavors that hold a rich, plum and blackberry line that drives long and very even. This is really something. Drink over the next decade."  James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com - 98 points and Top 100 Wines of Australia 2021

"Traditionally my favourite wine in the release, not for its immediacy or charm (like the relic) or its elegance and nuance (like the lamella), the Standish brings the savoury brute, it brings the spice, and it brings the staunch. This is the wine in the collection that opens and changes the most as it opens up. It's got the spicy yin to the fruity yang, wrapped in a fortune cookie of tannin. It's tannic and dense and honestly pretty unapproachable without enough time to open up so I look forward to seeing it later today. It has a compact spice market located within the confines of the fruit – it's the usual suspects – star anise, fennel, liquorice root, Szechuan peppercorn, but there's also fresh grated nutmeg, saltbush, ferrous and red gravel. The wine flexes and contracts and it paces its way across the palate, enduring through the finish, giving us an insight into the folds of flavour and concentration that it will reveal in time. Super impressive, I love it for different reasons to the 18."  Erin Larkin, erinlarkin.com.au – 97 points

"Exotic Indian spice, floral, thyme and lavender, vanilla and toast. Blackberry nip, earth and toast, suede-like grip to tannin, black olive and ripe blackberry on a long firm finish. Feels very primary. Slight warmth though it, but gee it's got some mojo. Drink 2023-2036."  Gary Walsh, The Wine Front - 95 points

Awards

Top 100 Wines of Australia 2021 - James Suckling

The standish

100% Shiraz. Sourced from the Laycock Family Vineyard, Greenock. Planted on own roots in 2002 (5.39 Hectare – 9ft x 6ft spacing). Dan Standish has worked closely with this great vineyard since 2005. Ironstone gravels and layered schist on a bedrock of solid ironstone at 314m above sea level. With its easterly aspect protecting it from the harsh western afternoon sun and the gentle sloped gravels draining away any untimely excess rainfall. Bedded deep on their own roots in fragmented ironstone and layered schist this Shiraz clone is in its element.

"Right clone, right aspect, it's all about the place. Ironstone gravels and layered schist on a bedrock of solid ironstone at 314m above sea level."  Dan Standish 

About the Winery

Dan Standish has the Barossa Valley running through his veins. A 6th Generation native, Dan created his Standish label in 1999 whilst still working at Torbreck. Today his wines are some of the most highly sought-after in the world and are critically acclaimed both here in Australia and internationally.

Standish Wine Company is a strikingly beautiful winery located in the Barossa Valley. The winery and vineyards are owned by Dan and Nicole Standish. Dan was first introduced to the art of pruning grape vines by his grandfather at the young age of six in their ancestral vineyard. He founded The Standish Wine Company in 1999 after securing a section of his family vineyard in the Barossa Valley. The same ancient plants that Dan carefully hand pruned are now used to produce his old vine shiraz, fittingly titled 'The Relic'.

Dan and Nicole work side by side at their modern, cavernous winery. The large stone and brick building is framed by lavender bushes and grand old vines. They purchased the site in 2013 a decade after it was built by French-managed company The Colonial Estate. The structure is like something straight out of France's Rhone Valley or Spain's Rioja, both parts of the world that Dan has worked in. He also made wine in California's Napa and Sonoma Valleys, before working for Torbreck. 

The estate produces a number of examples of Barossa Shiraz, including 'The Relic', 'The Standish', The Schubert Theorem and Lamella. Each wine is produced with the utmost attention to detail, blending traditional techniques with modern technology.