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The Standish Shiraz 2017
RedAustralia2017
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2020-07-04 · Published 2026-09-30 · Updated 2026-09-30
At a glance
In one line
4.0/5 — lower than Vivino's 4.5 average · world avg price US$113 · A single-vineyard Shiraz from Dan Standish, sixth generation of a Barossa grape-growing family.
Wine-Searcher aggregate of 6 critic reviews: 93. Vivino lists a critic score of 96 (added Nov 2020, publication not named).
Market note: World average US$113 / 750ml (Wine-Searcher, ex-tax, Sep 2026). Seven overseas retailers list it at US$99.40–124.40 per 750ml, mostly in-bond (pre-tax) prices in the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore. The house's other Shirazes: The Relic US$101 (95), Schubert Theorem US$113 (96), Lamella US$117 (96).
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“바로사 밸리 Shiraz 의 건강한 맛이 바로 느껴짐. 이번에 느낀건데 Shiraz 가 가지고 있는 첫 혀에 닿는 맛이 저번에 먹은 한국 캠벨 포도 와인이랑 똑같았다. 맛있는 군것질 하는듯한 그맛인데 난 이게 참 좋다. 그 이후는 스케일이 그렇게 크진 않지만 밸런스 참 좋고 피니쉬 참 길다. 산미와 타닌감이 특히 적절함. 스파이시함도 같이.”
Show original
“blackberry oak plum chocolate vanilla licorice cassis blueberry cream dark chocolate raspberry cinnamon jam 바로사 밸리 Shiraz 의 건강한 맛이 바로 느껴짐~ 이번에 느낀건데 Shiraz 가 가지고 있는 첫 혀에 닿는 맛이 저번에 먹은 한국 캠밸포도 와인이랑 똑같았다. 맛있는 군것질 하는듯한 그맛인데 난 이게 참 좋다^^ 그 이후는 스케일이 그렇게 크진 않지만 밸런스 참 좋고 피니쉬 참길다. 산미와 타닌감이 특히 적절함. 스파이시함도 같이..”
What I learned today: the same first taste doesn't make the same wine.
Wednesday. Minjae came in hugging a big cardboard box. Samples of a grape juice his company is about to stock, he said — pressed from Campbell grapes. Master Seo looked at the box, poured a little juice into a paper cup, and set a glass of red beside it. Juice first, then wine. Compare only the very first taste on the tip of the tongue, before you swallow, he said.
A sip of juice. Sweet, tangy, purple grape. Then a sip of wine. The first taste on the tip of my tongue was exactly the same. I laughed. But the wine didn't stop there. Blackberry, chocolate and pepper passed one after another, and stayed long after I swallowed. That grape taste on the tip of my tongue opened an evening in early July.
Twenty-one, the first Saturday evening of July. The kitchen, windows thrown open, was still hot. Dad poured from a cloth-wrapped bottle, then took a carton of grape juice from the fridge and poured a little into a small cup. Compare just the first sip, he said. I drank one and then the other and said they were the same — grape. Dad laughed: exactly. Then he told me to take the second sip slowly and hold it for a long time. My mouth stayed warm for ages. I don't know the name of the bottle.
I opened the notebook to that date. The healthy taste of Barossa Valley Shiraz, straight away, he wrote. The first taste of Shiraz on the tongue was exactly like a Korean Campbell grape wine he'd had before. He loved that taste, "like a tasty snack". After that, not huge in scale, but beautifully balanced with a long finish. Four stars. The bottle was The Standish Shiraz. I stuck on the wine-name Post-it. Dad probably thought of that Campbell grape wine and reached for the juice carton.
Minjae said that at every holiday, Campbell grape wine is the first thing to sell out at the store. Master Seo only told me to remember that first taste. The same thing comes from the Barossa, he said; it's what follows that's different.
After closing, I wrote the name on the twenty-ninth page of the new notebook. In the aroma column: 'grape juice, and then what comes after'. What I learned today: the same first taste doesn't make the same wine. With wine, the real part starts after you swallow.
What this wine is
The Standish family has grown grapes in the Barossa since 1848. According to the producer profile at the Australian retailer Market Wine Store, Dan Standish is the sixth generation. In 1999 he took over a block of his parents' 96-year-old Shiraz vineyard. Rather than buying other people's fruit, he began with his family's old vines — and put the family name on both the company and the bottle.
'The Standish' is the house's flagship. The fruit comes from the Laycock family vineyard at Greenock, in the north-west of the Barossa (Wine-Searcher, Market Wine Store). The Relic comes from the Hongell family vineyard, Lamella from the Angas family vineyard in Eden Valley. A separate bottle for each vineyard is how the house works.
It is fermented in small batches with wild yeast and aged for two years in fine French oak, and the estate is described as following biodynamic practices. Standish wines are sold through a mailing list and are said to sell out within hours. The label carries nothing but 'The Standish' and 'Single Vineyard Shiraz' in script on a pale apricot ground.
What the world says
The six critic reviews gathered on Wine-Searcher aggregate to 93. Vivino lists a critic score of 96 (added Nov 2020).
On Vivino the 2017 averages 4.5 from 220 ratings: 51 fives, 153 fours, 15 threes and a single one. The label as a whole averages 4.4 from 2,535. By vintage, 2022 is highest at 4.6, and 2017 sits at 4.5 alongside 2015–2019. The suggested window is 2022–2032, so this bottle was still ahead of it.
Black fruit such as blackberry and plum leads the aroma mentions (301), followed by oak, chocolate and vanilla (237), pepper, licorice and cinnamon (112), and leather and earth (90). Structure: intensity 4.7, tannin 3.3, acidity 3.0, sweetness 2.2. Many say it is big and dark, yet the tannins aren't rough.
"Big dark fruit, liquorice and leather, another few years and this will be 5 star" — Vivino review, Feb 2020, 4.5
How I drank it
July 4, 2020, 4 stars. I wrote down blackberry, oak, plum, chocolate, vanilla, licorice, cassis, blueberry, cream, dark chocolate, raspberry, cinnamon and jam — thirteen of them.
The healthy taste of Barossa Valley Shiraz came through straight away. What I learned this time was that the first taste of Shiraz on the tongue is exactly like a Korean Campbell grape wine I'd had before. That taste, like a tasty snack, is one I really love. After that the scale isn't big, but the balance is lovely and the finish long. The acidity and tannin were especially well judged, and spice came along too.
My 4 is half a point below the Vivino average of 4.5. 'Not huge in scale' is probably that half point. Vivino's window starts in 2022, so I opened this bottle two years before it. Even the reviewer who expected five stars said 'another few years'. The day before I gave Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2002 a 4.
Vivino community data
2017 vintage rating distribution (220 ratings, average 4.5)
| 5★ | 51 (23%) | |
| 4★ | 153 (70%) | |
| 3★ | 15 (7%) | |
| 2★ | 0 (0%) | |
| 1★ | 1 (0%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Black fruit | 301 | blackberry 83 · plum 53 · black fruit 44 · blueberry 28 · dark fruit 23 |
| Oak | 237 | oak 59 · chocolate 54 · vanilla 42 · tobacco 15 · cedar 12 |
| Spice | 112 | pepper 41 · licorice 24 · cinnamon 11 · white pepper 7 · eucalyptus 6 |
| Earth & leather | 90 | leather 26 · earthy 14 · smoke 8 · graphite 7 · tar 7 |
| Red fruit | 59 | cherry 28 · raspberry 15 · strawberry 5 · red fruit 3 · cranberry 2 |
Structure: Acidity 3.0/5 · Intensity 4.7/5 · Tannin 3.3/5 · Sweetness 2.2/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 2535 ratings, average 4.4)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 4.2 | 50 |
| 2003 | 4.5 | 192 |
| 2005 | 4.4 | 223 |
| 2006 | 4.4 | 188 |
| 2008 | 4.4 | 55 |
| 2009 | 4.5 | 80 |
| 2012 | 4.2 | 38 |
| 2013 | 4.4 | 63 |
| 2014 | 4.2 | 57 |
| 2015 | 4.5 | 133 |
| 2016 | 4.5 | 252 |
| 2017 | 4.5 | 220 |
| 2018 | 4.5 | 232 |
| 2019 | 4.5 | 227 |
| 2020 | 4.3 | 123 |
| 2021 | 4.4 | 102 |
| 2022 | 4.6 | 90 |
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is The Standish Shiraz?
A single-vineyard wine made by The Standish Wine Company in the Barossa Valley from Shiraz grown in the Laycock family vineyard at Greenock. The 2017 averages 4.5 on Vivino (220 ratings) with a Wine-Searcher critic aggregate of 93.
How much does it cost?
Wine-Searcher's world average is US$113 per 750ml (ex-tax, Sep 2026). Seven overseas retailers list it at US$99.40–124.40 per 750ml (mostly in-bond prices).
What food goes with it?
The Vivino community suggests beef and lamb. Many reviewers drank it with steak, and some decanted it for several hours.
Is it common for Shiraz to taste like grape juice?
Ripe Shiraz from warm regions often opens with sweet black fruit on the first sip. What sets this bottle apart is the pepper, licorice, chocolate and long finish that follow.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Market Wine Store — The Standish Wine Company
- Wine-Searcher — 2017 Standish 'The Standish' Single Vineyard Shiraz
Read next
Swipe for more →
Similar styleMollydooker Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz 2018
Australia · South Australia★★★★★Similar style[yellow tail] Shiraz 2023
AustraliaSame grapeDomaine Leroy Bourgogne Aligoté 2014
France · Burgundy★★★★☆Same grapeDomaine de la Pinte Trousseau Arbois 2018
France★★★★½Same grapeFar Niente Chardonnay 2019
United States · Napa★★★★☆Same grape