Standish The Standish Shiraz 2023 - In Bond

99 Points - James Suckling.com “This is all about perfume, with integrated blue and black fruit that shows polish and refinement, plus undertones of mulberry bush, cocoa, crushed stones, fresh herbs and violets. The palate is plush and rounded with no hard edges, showing a silken, creamy texture that flows across the palate for minutes, supported by almost melting tannins. In near perfect balance, with all the hallmarks of a cool-vintage syrah. Pretty, textural and aromatic. Excellent. Drink or hold.”

97 Points - Erin Larkin "The 2023 The Standish Shiraz is the most "Barossan" of all the Standish cuvées. It exudes earthy brick dust tannins and layers sumac and exotic spices with roasted game and sweet marrow. There are notes of black cherry, dried rose petals, sandalwood, hung deli meat and licorice, all of it strapped to rails of grounded tannin. It's chewy, substantial and of the earth, in its way. The fruit is sourced from the Laycock family vineyard in Greenock, as always, and it expresses the red clay and loam soils there in its splay of tannic fortitude and density. This is very impressive. It is fresh yet meaty/rocky—both attractive qualities in Shiraz/Syrah. 14.9% alcohol, sealed under natural cork."

97 Points - Halliday.com "The long, extended '23 vintage manifests itself beautifully in the glass with this release. It could be from nowhere else but the Barossa – the Laycock vineyard in Greenock to be precise. Fruit purity is a leitmotif of the Standish wines and, again, it's peaking the meter in '23, with deep black cherry and satsuma plum fruits at its core. There's fruit density and power here but finesse and detail are close at hand. Tendrils of exotic bunchy spice move through the wine, with glimpses of sandalwood, dried purple flowers, charcuterie, tapenade and the ferruginous stamp of place. What I love about this release is the tension between fruit weight, fine tannin heft and mineral cadence. There is precision and power and that is a very attractive thing indeed."

Stuart McCloskey, tasted April 2025 "Glass staining violet colour – wonderful gloss to the wine too… The bouquet is explosive to put it mildly and leads with mint, mulberry, crème de mûre, dark chocolate, exotic spices, iron filings, graphite and iodine. A mix of florals, minerals and seaweed emerge after more time in my glass. This is incredibly dense and feels bottomless – It’s astonishing how Dan extracts such concentration and intrigue. The palate follows a similar, blacker-than-black path – akin to jumping off a cliff and falling forever. This is such an authoritative wine that drives with ripe mulberry, blackberry, violet pastille, liquorice, mulberry compote, mocha, black olive, alpine herbs, and layers of iron-borne minerals. The tannins spread across the palate and play a vital part to the wine’s overall balance. Essentially, they stand up to the saturated fruit and ripeness. The length is astonishing and tapers off into the abyss with a hint of orange zest. Profoundly good winemaking and comfortably sits alongside Australia’s elite. This is destined for a very long life. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is drinking like a distant dream in 2075… Decanted for 24-hours (poured back into the bottle – cork left out) Served using Zalto Burgundy glassware. Astonishing."