2021 Standish The Standish Shiraz

Other Reviews....
Greenock Shiraz.
Coffee bean, black fruit, a little mint, some salt beef in the mix, and creamy oak. It’s full-bodied, a bit more nippy in acidity with grainy chew to tannin, not quite the balance and flow of the other wines, more rugged and warm feeling, though there’s no shortage of impact. A saline character, and kind of drying on the finish, but still, a lot of wine, and overall very good, though perhaps the least appealing of the Standish releases from 2021. Does have a bit of a ‘mineral’ aspect though, which is nice. May turn the corner. Who really knows? Drink: 2025-2035+.
93+ points
Gary Walsh - The Wine Front (May 2023)

The 2021 The Standish Shiraz was made with fruit from the Laycock family vineyard, Greenock, with 30% whole bunches in the ferment. The Standish Shiraz was the first cuvée launched by Dan Standish in 1999, and the wine is routinely typified by its muscular tannin shape and earthy, savory fruit. The most attractive part of this wine is the splay of exotic market spice (namely sumac, black pepper, star anise and fresh cardamom) that sails in on the coattails of the red/purple fruit. It has all the exoticism and romance of a hike through the mountains of Morocco, yet it, perhaps more than any other wine in the collection, speaks of the Barossa in a clear enunciated voice. So, where does it fit in 2021? The 2021 The Standish Shiraz is finer, prettier and lighter than I have ever seen it at this stage of its life. It has all the spice and Barossan identity that is expected; however, it misses the dense baritone of fruit that is present in earlier iterations. Whether you think that is a positive or not is up to you—I am fond of this wine throughout all its incarnations. Vintage variation is responsible for the spark of curiosity and joy that I experience every year during this release, and the real triumph in 2021 is the ability of the vineyard (this vineyard) to shine through the season that shaped it. 14.9% alcohol. Drink: 2023-2043.
96 points
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (May 2023)