2021 Standish The Relic Shiraz Viognier

Other Reviews....
Hongell Family Vineyard, Krondorf. 99% Shiraz 1% Viognier. Apparently 25% whole bunch.
Fragrant, juicy, all the dark cherry and apricot stone, some white flower and spice. It’s full-bodied, rich and kind of syrupy in dark fruit flavour, but gee, the tannin here is very high quality, quite stony and graphite in texture. There’s maybe a bit of warmth, but also lavish blue and black fruit concentration, Turkish apricot and caramel, with a strident and tannic finish of excellent length. Lots of perfume and energy.and has so much succulence and perfume, that you come round to its way of thinking in the end. Côte-Rôtie on steroids, maybe. It’s good. Drink: 2024-2039+.
94 points
Gary Walsh - The Wine Front (May 2023)

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. Drink: 2023-2048.
98 points
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (May 2023)