It’s always nice to get back home to the Barossa. Its dips and scarps are familiar, I know the backroads, the vineyards, the butchers and the pie shops. Plus, I get hugs from friends. It lifts the soul.
Recently, while there for an event, I decided to make the most of my quick trip by slotting in a few winery visits on the way back to Adelaide. So I couldn’t get into too much trouble, Jeni Port, fellow Tasting Team member, and J’aime Cardillo, Halliday's digital content manager, were my co-pilots for the day.
The Standish Wine Company (AKA Standish)
Our first port of call was Standish Wines, located on Kalimna Road in the old Colonial Estate digs. There is nothing finer than pulling into the driveway past the old gnarled vines and seeing the wooden doors open, wines and stemware set up and ready to roll, and a backdrop of the next release wines all resting in barrel.
Dan Standish launched Standish Wines in 1999. The sixth generation Barossan was also the chief winemaker at Torbreck, and has worked stints in the Napa Valley, Sonoma, Spain and the Rhône Valley. Dan's winemaking acumen is of the highest calibre.
There are four wines in the Standish quiver; all jaw-droppingly pure, beautifully composed and speaking clearly of place.
The 2022 The Relic, from an east-facing vineyard in Krondorf, shiraz with a tiny (two per cent) addition of viognier, is a stunner. Likewise, the Lamella, from the ancient shiraz vines of the Stonegarden vineyard just near Springton in the Eden Valley.
The remaining two wines are from the west. The Schubert Theorem hails from the Schubert vineyard on Roennfeldt Road, Marananga. It's a bold, ironstone-stuffed shiraz and shows incredible fruit depth and harmony.
And finally, The Standish, sourced from the Laycock vineyard in the western parish of Greenock, displays all the fruit purity and density that the subregion is famous for. The quartet are such beautiful wines and Dan is a worthy flag bearer for the ‘New Barossa’. An (appointment-only) tasting should be on everyone's list when visiting.
