A 6th generation Barossan, Dan Standish established his eponymous winery in 1999 whilst still working as winemaker at Torbreck Vintners. His endeavour initially began around an ancient parcel of Shiraz owned and farmed by his father… All batches of fruit are fermented and matured individually then follows a strict selection in the winery that can see as much as 80% of the original blend discarded and sold off in bulk. As with the finest producers in Europe only the finest material is sold under the Standish Wine Company label.
Stylistically Dan’s wines are as rich and profound as you would expect from Barossa Valley old vines but they have a satin texture and dreamy perfume that sets them far apart from his contemporaries. Here, dark fruits are encased in cocoa and earthy richness but with gentle spice, soil tone, asphalt and a stony minerality that gives the wines a beautiful dimension. These are special Australian wines.
95 Points Wine Advocate
The 2006 Shiraz was sourced from a single parcel of 98 year old vines yielding a minuscule 0.5 tons of fruit per acre. It was aged for 36 months in seasoned French oak. A glass-coating opaque purple color, it offers up a superb, room-filling bouquet of cigar box, baking spices, smoked meat, lavender, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. On the palate this harmonious, velvety-textured effort is voluptuous, full-flavored, succulent, and exceptionally long. It has enough structure to evolve for 4-6 years but will be hard to resist early on. Its prime drinking window will extend from 2014 to 2026. The Standish Wine Company is quickly becoming one of the Barossa Valley’s benchmarks.
