May 21, 2024
Release: Standish 2021s - a must for shiraz/syrah lovers
Founded by Dan Standish, a 6th generation Barossan with a legacy at Torbreck winery, Standish Wine Company has become a hallmark of innovation in Australian winemaking. By marrying Barossa Valley’s rich traditions with insights from global winemaking locales like the Rhone Valley and Napa, Standish has crafted a line of wines that redefine quality and sophistication.
Across the board, the winemaking is uniform for the range: grapes are handpicked and wild fermented in open-top fermenters, followed by an 18-22 month aging period in French oak barrels from four rotating coopers. This method is carefully chosen to highlight the vineyard's own voice over the signature of the cooper, allowing the unique characteristics of each season to be expressed through the oak.
In 2021, Standish has produced some of the finest wines of the vintage coming in with incredibly high scores from the Wine Advocate. 2021 was a cool vintage which was not too hot, too cold leading to wines with impeccable balance. What is especially evident in 2021 is that each of the wines expresses their unique personalities.
These wines are incredibly unique and we have listed them all in single bottles so that you have the chance to try each unique personality of the wines. The full reviews are below for your perusal.
Please note: We have a selection available on our website and if you would like to order more than we have available, please reply to the email and we will do our best to cater for your request.
The personalities of the 4 wines:
Standish The Standish:
One of the crown jewels within the Standish portfolio is self-titled "The Standish" Shiraz. Sourced from the esteemed Greenock vineyard, this wine captivates with its opulence and concentration. Balanced with precision and a purity of fruit, it boasts an aromatic nose. It’s savoury, full-bodied, spicy, full-bodied and powerful but incredibly balanced.
Standish The Schubert:
The Schubert Shiraz is sourced from the famed Roennfeldt Road vineyard. In the range, the Schubert is the darkest wine. The fruit is dark fruit such a black cherries and blackberries and the nose has plenty of mocha and dark chocolate. Overall, it’s very concentrated, and tannic but with a sophistication that is incredibly impressive.
Standish Lamella:
The Lamella Shiraz is sourced from the Eden Valley. This cool-climate region imparts distinctive characteristics to the wine, resulting in a captivating expression of Shiraz that is elegant, refined, and beautifully structured. The Lamella often has a savoury, bacon fatness that you often find in Cornas in the Rhone. Crushed rocks and Asian spice usually follow suit to round of this pure expression of Shiraz.
Standish The Relic:
The Relicis is often the most charming wine in the range. Blending 99% Shiraz with 1% Viognier sourced from Krondorf, the wine is reminiscent to those of Cote-Rotie which use a small portion of Viognier to add lift the bouquet of the wine. The wine is elevated with alluring floral notes, spice, a hint of lavender and offers great balance, fine-grained tannins, and a long, harmonious finish.
Photo: The Standish winery
Standish The Standish 2021
96 Points | Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2021 The Standish Shiraz was made with fruit from the Laycock family vineyard, Greenock, with 30% whole bunches in the ferment. The Standish Shiraz was the first cuvée launched by Dan Standish in 1999, and the wine is routinely typified by its muscular tannin shape and earthy, savory fruit. The most attractive part of this wine is the splay of exotic market spice (namely sumac, black pepper, star anise and fresh cardamom) that sails in on the coattails of the red/purple fruit. It has all the exoticism and romance of a hike through the mountains of Morocco, yet it, perhaps more than any other wine in the collection, speaks of the Barossa in a clear enunciated voice. So, where does it fit in 2021? The 2021 The Standish Shiraz is finer, prettier and lighter than I have ever seen it at this stage of its life. It has all the spice and Barossan identity that is expected; however, it misses the dense baritone of fruit that is present in earlier iterations. Whether you think that is a positive or not is up to you—I am fond of this wine throughout all its incarnations. Vintage variation is responsible for the spark of curiosity and joy that I experience every year during this release, and the real triumph in 2021 is the ability of the vineyard (this vineyard) to shine through the season that shaped it. 14.9% alcohol.
Standish Schubert Theorem 2021
99 Points | Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2021 The Schubert Theorem Shiraz was made with fruit from the Roennenfeldt Road vineyard, in Marananga, with 70% whole bunches in the ferment. The northeastern corner of this vineyard is matured in concrete egg to preserve the blue-fruited core that defines the style of this wine; it is the only cuvée that features an alternate maturation vessel. I knew (before and) when I tasted the 2019 and 2020 vintages what I was going to get, by and large. When I was in the Barossa in June 2021, I was already thinking about what the Schubert would look like from this year, as the perceived fit of season and style had the potential to dovetail in a most titillating fashion—a "stars aligning" kind of thing. A cool season overlays a warm site capable of producing dark, dense, sometimes brooding, always pure Shiraz. The combination of concrete egg (and, in this case, a slightly shorter maturation in this vessel) and cooler year has produced a wine of scintillating precision and fruit sweetness. It glows with its own black light. It shimmers and oscillates between fruit luminescence and plush tannic texture, and in doing so, it barely contains its own energy and abundance. The distinction between this profusion of fruit and the old "fruit bombs" of yore is the precision of acid and pliable fruit tannin that defines the middle palate and the ability of the fruit (courtesy of the winemaking) to shine through the vessels in which it matured. The tannin that shapes the wine is plentiful, make no mistake, yet it is ductile and fine and threads through every aspect of the palate. A thrilling Schubert this year, it's like a strike of lightning on a dark night. This wine appeals most fervently to my penchant for freshness, energy and resonant bass line. 14.9% alcohol.
Standish Lamella Shiraz 2021
98+ Points | Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2021 Lamella Shiraz is made with fruit from the Angas family vineyard, Hutton Vale Farm, Eden Valley. The vineyard was planted with cuttings from the Mt Edelstone (Henschke) vineyard and represents the final pick of the season each year. Made with 100% whole bunches in the ferment, the wine opens with characteristic jasmine tea, bergamot, raspberry, graphite and star anise on the nose. The whole-bunch component, far from overtaking the fruit, is seamlessly integrated from the first instance this year. The wine is a cohesive whole and shows an elegance and presence that is beguiling, to say the least. If anything, the 2021 Lamella is full of aching potential; its future is writ upon the balance of fruit and skin/stalk tannin, freshness and density. For lovers of this cuvée, I cannot recall seeing it so balanced and poised on release. The 2018 (a vintage I reference constantly for its high quality and fruit presence) may challenge this statement, however the cool vintage that birthed the Lamella this year has produced a wine of definition and untold potential. Super. Sealed under natural cork. 14.9% alcohol.
Standish The Relic Shiraz Viognier 2021
98 Points | Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2021 The Relic Shiraz-Viognier is made with fruit from the Hongell family vineyard, Krondorf. It was made with 1% Viognier co-fermented, with 25% whole bunches in the ferment this year, up from 15% to 20% in 2020. The Relic is one of Australia’s greatest Shiraz Viognier wines, and it’s a sure thing each year for quality and execution of style. In 2020, it was my preferred wine of the collection for its savory, meaty/bacon fat/bloody character. All elements were in balance, and it managed a savory and floral drive within the same glass. Super cool. This year, I love the wine for all the opposite reasons. The 2021 is creamy, plush and almost sybaritic in its outlay of fruit and tannin. At 15.5% alcohol, it's the highest alcohol wine in the 2021 release, yet it doesn’t show that via warmth or harshness in the wine. The whole-bunch component is up slightly this year from last, and honestly, it feels completely invisible in the wine. This is undoubtedly the biggest, most plush wine in the collection, but true to form for Standish, it is balanced and fresh, with a long future in front of it.