2022 New Releases
"Sense of place is spoken of a lot in wine circles.
My first and most profound realisation of the all-encompassing notion of “terroir” was on my very first visit to France whilst backpacking through the South of France’s Rhone Valley. Ambling into a small communal tasting room the overpowering intense aroma of red raspberries and liquorice struck me like a freight train. The heady scent omnipresent in every single one of the dozens of wines I tasted.
This experience inspired my drive to mould wines of not only “Barossa” origin but with the more precise nuanced traits from vines living, reared and cultivated in very specific native soils and mesoclimates.
Blessed with a long cool ripening season each of these 2022 Shiraz’s are unabashedly Barossa but more intricately reveal a distinct sense of place in which the vines inhabit.
An outstanding vintage to showcase the intimate temperaments within our special part of the world." - Dan Standish
2022 The Standish
Laycock Family Vineyard, Greenock
100% Shiraz
Vinorium review by Stuart McCloskey
“Customarily, the most muscular wine of the quartet and one that always speaks accurately of its terroir. Also, the one that requires more time and understanding as it sadly, doesn’t always offer the same kerb appeal as the others. I decanted all four wines back-to-back. I resisted sampling, but I took a deep inhale, and this was the most exciting wine straight out of the bottle, which is another first as it’s often the most reticent.
The bouquet is turbo-charged – Schubert Theorem dialled up a notch or two. Beauty and the beast if you like. Marine influences are at play – this time there’s a ‘warmed’ element to their respective fragrance. Perhaps a deeper fragrance of iodine, sea kelp and sea salt would be a better description. The fruit is mineral and spice-driven, black and blue with pastille goodness along with violets and fresh pencil shavings. Wonderfully floral too. A brooding, exotic behemoth being an accurate summary. In time, you’ll see…
This wine is a perfect marriage of the Barossa and the great wines of Hermitage, Rhône. The palate is distinctly powerful, but and unlike previous releases, the magical 2022 wand has cast a degree of charm. Spiced fruit cake, cocoa and coffee add yin and yang to the palate staining black and blue fruits, which are infused with the most expensive, exotic spices. The ‘spice’ notes are heightened with more aeration. At first, the tannins feel almost hidden, but when you go looking, they do provide some serious grip and add lovely shape and feel to the wine. The palate feel is generous and certainly the most appealing example we have seen, yet it is too young to broach. I recommend 8-10 years, but it is worth opening one bottle just to quell one’s curiosity. Another triumph and the most enjoyable ‘The Standish’ we have experienced. Served using Zalto Burgundy glassware. Drink 2030+ to 2050+. Sampled 26 March 2024."
Winefront Review by Mike Bennie
Posted on 18 May 2024
"From the Laycock Family Vineyard which is in the Greenock parish of Barossa Valley. The 2022 release certainly have a distinct presence and potency in the glass, which could be a calling card of Standish, of course, though tannin profile is lighter and finer in 2022 overall, is an observation. They’re a bit more potent and powerful in a way. No slouching in cred, just a theme.
Midnight black colour. Whoosh! There’s incredible density and concentration here, but such focus and an attractive lift to the wine that seems counterintuitive to how much is going on. Marrakesh market stall scents and flavours, with dark cherry, rose hip tea, black tea, graphite, cardamom and caraway seed spices too. It’s incredible how much of a event this wine is, but how much finesse is here too. Epic stuff. IMAX movie theatre vibes. Immersive, is the gist, and done so well."
96 Points
2022 The Schubert Theorem
Roennfeldt Road, Marananga
100% Shiraz
Vinorium review by Stuart McCloskey
“The bouquet is simply irresistible – you can smell the succulence, which draws you in and keeps you hooked. I love a wine that provides a perfume which is so profound, there isn’t a need to taste. First-up is the unmissable marine influence – salt, iodine and seaweed, which pervades with graphite. A harmonious and adult introduction. Fruit elements provide an intoxicating and heady mix of dark pastille fruits, crème de mûre and cassis. A further layer of savouriness is delivered by way of liquorice, black olive tapenade and star anise. Wonderfully exotic and then I am transported back to the seaside… Professionally, I have been sampling wines for 25-years and some of the very best too, yet I am not sure if I have ever come across a newly released wine (an infant in the bottle) that delivers such immediate pleasure and almost perfect mouthfeel. The balance is immaculate and personifies ‘seamlessness’. As odd as it sounds, it flows to a cool climate tune and a warm one at once. There’s a little warm climate attitude yet, the palate feel is otherworldly. So gracious, bewitched by beauty – the tannins are super-fine and super-long. The fruit is intensely sweet, dark, brooding and wholesome in their respective exoticness. Cerebral winemaking at its very best. Purity personified and delivers a sheath of coolness which I have never witnessed from a Barossa Shiraz. This genuinely has captured all my senses. Furthermore, and before I commence chapter two, there is no doubt in my mind that the 2022 Schubert Theorem is a bona fide giant on the world stage of wine… Simply beautiful and epic. Quite incredible that a wine can make such an immediate impact. By far my favourite Schubert Theorem to date. Drink now to 2050+. Served using Zalto Burgundy (better than the Bordeaux glass). Sampled 26 March 2024.”
Winefront Review by Mike Bennie
Posted on 18 May 2024
"Tasting through these Standish 2022 wines this was distinct. Tannin profile soared, tension, structure, finesse. That and a sense of freshness despite the freight train of concentrated ripe fruit and liquid spice found here. An Italiante sense to the wine in sour and tart, ripe and rich, earthy and meaty, herbal and bitter. Lots on. Lots of lovely. It might sit outside some of the paradigms of Barossa classics that some seek, but hey, there’s no need for that.
It’s potent, no doubt, slinks along and stains the palate to infinity, a lithe profile of satiny tannin doing pucker and chew as dense, ripe plum, black olive, salted liquorice, clove, violet, cassis and amaro-like bitter sweet rolls on with a splash of blood orange in the mix. So satisfying, so much verity to the region and yet distinct and individual, charismatic, highly drinkable. A crunch even! The energy here a thing to behold. It’s vivid and a real beauty. Layers and layers on show."
96+ Points
2022 Lamella
Hutton Vale Farm, Eden Valley
100% Shiraz
Vinorium review by Stuart McCloskey
“Every Standish collector wants the ‘Lamella’ however, good luck as it is rarely seen upon release, let alone years down the line. You wouldn’t believe how many cases we have shipped back to Australian customers. Accordingly, pile in and buy the most lauded wine in the quartet.
As per The Relic sample, two bottles were opened with bottle two showing much better (1-hour decanting opposed to many hours and days which has been customary with previous releases). I found Lamella the most interesting sample to assess. For one, it certainly shows the longer hangtime in the vineyard, which translates from vine to glass. Denser, more structured, and quintessentially Standish. The tannins are more pronounced and provide the perfect frame for the concentrated fruit… I am getting ahead of myself – back to the bouquet which is drop dead gorgeous and certainly the ‘deeper’ and ‘denser’ of the ’22 releases. Bottomless nori, layers of coal / graphite – it’s off the charts in terms of concentration and depth. Dark black and blue fruits which are laced with sweet, exotic spice. White pepper, sous-bois and glorious blood orange. The puppy fat palate is kept in-check by cooling freshness and firm but silken tannins. This is the archetypical ‘iron fist in a velvet glove.’ I love the interplay of elements which make-up this masterpiece. Sheer power which is counterbalanced by a deftly touch of lacelike brilliance. Utter harmony. It really takes perfection in its stride and deserves its legendary status. By my favourite Lamella to date. Served using Zalto Burgundy glassware. Drink now to 2050 and I hope it brings as much joy to you as it did for me…”
Winefront Review by Mike Bennie
Posted on 18 May 2024
"As per suggested serving from Dan Standish, I honoured the ideal of 24 hours of decant back to bottle and taste next day. Not what would happen in a restaurant, but I guess best practice from the winemaking hot seat, and of course doable at home. I did try a small glass of each wine on opening to get an idea of what was what at the time too. The reviews are based on the mix of that in some respects.
Lamella for me was the least of all these stellar releases, that being said that’s a margins thing in some respects. It is the blockiest, sweeter/riper fruit spectrum expression from my glass, and less structured, with ripeness and a touch of breathy portiness in the mix. It’s obvious, and obviously really good, though lesser in tannin and structure than its stablemates.
Whiffs of dark cherry, cola, liquorice, crumpled dried leaves, boot polish, young port and espresso. Inky to sniff on, inky to taste. A bolshy and bold flavour profile, muscular and robust, pulpy and plush, impressively concentrated and decidedly sweet fruited amongst pleasing aniseed bitterness, though some toffee and cherry cola echoes in the palate with each sip. Lip-smacking stuff, is the gist."
94 Points
2022 The Relic
Hongell Family Vineyard, Krondorf
99% Shiraz 1% Viognier
Vinorium review by Stuart McCloskey
“Two bottles were opened with bottle two showing better (this sample was served with less aeration / decanting time (1-hour in this case) which is the theme for the ’22 collection. Less delivers more…). The aromatics bowl you over with the sheer intensity, crystalline purity and drips with succulence. Graphite, Indian ink, iodine along with anise meld with plum compote, raspberry, blackcurrant, espresso, vanilla, mint, bay leaf, pretty florals and cedar (Mocha follows with more aeration). The palate is mindboggling and unlike any other Relic vintage I have sampled (certainly upon release). Such accessibility, so graceful, so pure, and impeccable balanced – a silken Shiraz in its finest incarnation. I suggest those seeking brutal tannins move on as these gently ripple across the palate. Akin to the bouquet, the palate is saturated with black and blue fruits. The satiny texture is heavenly and feels top-class in any language. This is a dignified release, it’s certainly pretty and executed with finesse. For Relic fans – this delivers everything you could ever hope for… Simply, a beautiful, sensual release which has left me struggling to find the right words. Perhaps ‘it delivers the complete package’ will do? Easily my favourite Relic to date. Served using Zalto Burgundy glassware. Drink now to 2050+. Sampled 27 March 2024.”
Winefront Review by Mike Bennie
Posted on 18 May 2024
"There is a considered 1% of viognier in this wine. It was wonderful to run through barrels with Dan Standish earlier this year, a matrix of information about the wines and how detailed the final wines are from the barrels considered.
Rich and robust red albeit with a thread of coursing minerality, frisky, floral perfume (and mouth perfume), varied red and black berry fruits, turned earth, game meat, woody spices, faint minty-alpine herb notes. So very much going. Slippery and slurpy, cinched with fine, grainy tannins, a faint sooty spice element to that but feels mostly skinsy and tight by virtue of pure, deep grapiness. A throaty, rich, somewhat warm red with impeccable credentials and great balance. Regal in its stance."
95+ Points
Watch Erin Larkin’s Wine Advocate review below. Copyright Erin Larkin WIne.
(The Standish Wine Company / www.standishwineco.com)