TN: 2018 Standish Wines 'The Standish' Shiraz

Dan and Nicole Standish made the trip down from the Barossa to our neck of the woods a few weeks ago, and kindly left me a couple of bottles.

This is a seriously serious Barossa Shiraz. It has real richness and density, yet retains a plushness and also a freshness. It has all the classic hallmarks of the variety, dark plums, a hint of liquorice, a subtle earthiness, but it is the combination of the power and the silky texture which sets it apart. The aroma is totally captivating and multi-faceted. You can feel the ancient vines.

True ‘vin de guarde’ wines Kent. Built to age.

“Seriously serious” sounds serious. Thanks for the note.

I was wondering if these stand up to the hype, thanks for sharing Kent. How would you compare this to something like a Torbreck Shiraz?

And if someone wants to know more here’s a nice video breaking down the 2018 Standish release:

I like that reviewer in the video. She seems knowledgeable and passionate. And you can see that she almost get like a little orgasm when she tastes a wine she really likes!

Damn, this makes me want to get some Aussie Shiraz right now!

Whilst the above might be true, Dan reckons 5-8 years from vintage is the sweet spot. Interesting given the structure of the wines, you d think they’d go 20 years easily.

Unfortunately these wines are not easy to find in the US and are priced accordingly, about double of Australia.

I haven’t had a Torbreck for years and of course Dan was winemaker at Torbreck, so there may be some similarities, but my impression of this wine is that this wine is a purer expression of Shiraz.

They are about $A100 ($US 70) here, which seems very reasonable given the quality of the wines and small production. 8 bottles of Standish v 1 bottle of Grange? Easy choice for me.

I completely agree. Tried one last year when I was visiting Brisbane for a conference. They are US$140-150 here and I’m still thinking of possibly buying one or two.

The wonderful three tier system! Still that pricing makes me think someone in the supply chain is making a very healthy margin, given our pricing includes 29% Wine Equalisation Tax and 10% GDP, neither of which are applied to exports.

Something is off about that pricing. LEAS is USD$70 in the states, which corresponds nicely to our AU$110 (actually it costs a tiny bit less!)

I see many Australian wines going for the same price in the States, so the Standish’s price can’t be explained with the three-tiered system.

She is quite awesome. I discovered her recently - her Youtube is very young but very entertaining and insightful. I think I did share the Riesling videos with you already.

Yes, and that was very informative. Just one complaint - she should put what wine she’s tasting in text within shot.

Totally reasonable complaint, Adam, why don’t you comment on one of her videos? She reads all of them and has answered to some of mine too.

Different.

They’re both big Barossan wines, but that’s where it ends for me.

Torbreck pushing more towards that over extracted, over ripe end of the spectrum. Less overt tannin, less acid, more oak. More decadent, more cuddly. High quality fruit, no doubt. Made for a particular target audience; think - the casual wine drinking executive who’s lived the Aussie Parker points era & seeking a Grange alternative. Standish, on the other hand, have more fruit purity & vitality, are generally far more aromatic & carry a lot more aromatic complexity. Higher quality tannin, and generally a lot more of it, whilst maintaining an incredibly silky mouthfeel. Above all else, they remain balanced - no small feat for such big wines, and are a regional benchmark in this regard.

So, to my palate, Standish are in a completely different league & completely worthy of any hype received. One of the few Barossan wines I purchase these days, and often worry whether I’ve purchased enough of them as they sell out. But to be fair to Torbreck, they have a different objective, and achieve what they set out to do very well. Just not my cup of tea.

This is a great breakdown, thanks. I especially like the description for Torbreck’s target audience . I always felt like they are good wines, but just not very my palate, and too plush/ripe.

Do you have any favourite out of the Standish range?

I’ve found the Schubert Theorem & Lamella to be my favourites in recent years, though not much in it really.

Have the Standish from 99-2003 and they’ve aged like bricks which is to say in no path of decline.