A true artisanal winemaker, Dan Standish is known for producing a dense, latent and strapping Shiraz that Robert Parker hailed as "sensational".

Based in the mighty Barossa Valley, this family owned winery is producing outstanding Shiraz from all corners of its vineyard, but particularly the fruit that goes into their 'The Standish' - a wild yeast fermented, basket-pressed Shiraz aged in French oak for a whopping 30 months. An old classic, just a little bigger in size and depth!

Using his winemaking experience in Sonoma and the Napa Valley, Dan has learned to extract excellent colour from the grape skins. Using his experience in the Rhone in France and Rioja in Spain, he's been able to near-perfect the tannin extraction process.

All of Dan's wines are big, bright, colourful, full of flavour and are highly aromatic.

Standish created a Rhone-style wine called 'The Relic' a few years back, which is a blend of Shiraz and Viognier juice (7% of the latter). While this is a relatively popular style that's been emerging in Australia since the 80's, probably due to the fact that the Viognier softens the harsher more savoury Shiraz flavours, it's actually not all that common for winemakers to co-ferment the juice from these two grapes together. Instead, many winemakers still ferment the juices separately, then combining the two later to balance flavour and texture.

I must admit, having tasted a number of Shiraz Viognier blends in the past ten years, that co-ferments definitely work better - another win for Dan Standish.

With all his wines rated in the mid 90's points by James Halliday, and taking into account all the wonderful things that Robert Parker has said about Standish wines, you can't help but think what fabulous wines will evolve in this vineyard in another 50 years. The Shiraz vines are already nearly 100 years old, so you don't need to wait that long.... sink your teeth into a juicy Standish today! -Daniel Jess