letuffeau.com
(Link)
~ “Standish is one of the greatest Shiraz producers in this country year on year, and the success in a year as challenging as 2023 is even more of a marker of than the triumphs in great years, like 2021 and 2022. The trick to these wines is their freshness; they don’t sacrifice size for detail—they have both—and this is what makes them so unique in the world of wine. Inky, intensely concentrated and firmly tannic does not mean that they are not also ethereal, kaleidoscopically complex, nor, perhaps most importantly, delicious.” ~
Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
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The Standish Wine Company
Barossa Valley
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“We are incredibly lucky to receive a further, small allocation of the 2023 wines from Dan Standish.
These wines need no introduction.”
— David
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“In a word, these 2023s are excellent. The wines show tremendous finesse and detail, and I felt that whatever challenges Standish found in the vineyards this year, they were not present in the glass.
Due to cooler temperatures, the stalks were typically greener than usual, so use of whole bunches was approached with great care: fruit was divided down into smaller ferment batches to manage this. The Relic (sourced from the Hongell vineyard in Krondorf) saw just 10% whole bunches and the usual 1% Viognier inclusion. Standish (from the Laycock family vineyard in Greenock) included 45% whole bunches. Schubert’s Theorem (from the Roennfeldt Road vineyard in Marananga) saw 50% whole bunches, and as usual, a component of the blend saw the inside of a concrete Nomblot egg. Lamella conformed to its usual recipe of 100% whole bunches, although this year saw a reverse of last year’s fruit sourcing: in 2023, the majority of the fruit was from the historic Stonegarden vineyard in Eden Valley (planted the 1860s) with a barrel of the Hutton Vale Farm vineyard Shiraz, famously propagated from cuttings from the Mt. Edelstone vineyard. All four wines saw less time in oak this year, with just 16 months of
elevage.”
— Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
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~ please note : discounts are automatically applied at the digital check-out! ~
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I
Standish 2023 Barossa Valley Shiraz 'The Standish'
limited
(Shelf Price: $192.00)
Offer: $157.00
“This is all about perfume, with integrated blue and black fruit that shows polish and refinement, plus undertones of mulberry bush, cocoa, crushed stones, fresh herbs and violets. The palate is plush and rounded with no hard edges, showing a silken, creamy texture that flows across the palate for minutes, supported by almost melting tannins. In near perfect balance, with all the hallmarks of a cool-vintage syrah. Pretty, textural and aromatic. Excellent.”
99pts — James Suckling, jamessuckling.com
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“The 2023 The Standish Shiraz is the most "Barossan" of all the Standish cuvées. It exudes earthy brick dust tannins and layers sumac and exotic spices with roasted game and sweet marrow. There are notes of black cherry, dried rose petals, sandalwood, hung deli meat and licorice, all of it strapped to rails of grounded tannin. It's chewy, substantial and of the earth, in its way. The fruit is sourced from the Laycock family vineyard in Greenock, as always, and it expresses the red clay and loam soils there in its splay of tannic fortitude and density. This is very impressive. It is fresh yet meaty/rocky—both attractive qualities in Shiraz/Syrah.”
97pts — Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
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“What I love about this release is the tension between fruit weight, fine tannin heft and mineral cadence. There is precision and power and that is a very attractive thing indeed.”
97pts — Dave Brookes, James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion
Order here
(Link)
II
Standish 2023 Barossa Valley Shiraz 'The Schubert Theorem'
limited
(Shelf Price: $192.00)
Offer: $157.00
“Deeply scented and perfumed, with layered aromas of wild red berries, blueberries, blackberries, bitter chocolate, coffee, black cherries, graphite and licorice. The palate is textural and silken, in near perfect harmony with fine tannins and a rounded mouthfeel cut through by a fine line of acidity. The complexity and integration have built this wine to last for decades, while already offering immediate drinking pleasure from the cool vintage. Excellent.”
99pts — James Suckling, jamessuckling.com
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“The 2023 The Schubert Theorem Shiraz is a gorgeous wine. It is silky, inky, pure, black as the ace of spades and long through the finish. The use of concrete egg in the fermentation/maturation stages lends the wine a sense of purity and finesse. It supports a core of crystalline fruit that is wrapped in earthy, grainy tannin and woven together with threads of saline acidity. It has rose petals, detail and delicacy, power and precision. Standish performs somewhat like a Burgundian producer—he works with one grape (I suppose two, if you count the small inclusion of Viognier in the Relic) to express different vineyard sites, soil types and elevations. There's no "declassified" fruit in these wines, no flow-on opportunities to other cuvées, just "make or break" viticulture and winemaking. The ancient terroir of the Barossa is writ large in these wines. It is striking. This 2023 Schubert, despite the cool and wet conditions, is a testament to Standish's clarity of vision. 14.9% alcohol, sealed
under natural cork.”
98pts — Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
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“The '23 release of the Schubert Theorem is just gorgeous. It's kinetic. The purest of plum, black cherry and blueberry fruits stretch impossibly long on the palate, with impressive density and a real sense of grace to its travel.”
98pts — Dave Brookes, James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion
Order here
(Link)
III
Standish 2023 Eden Valley Shiraz 'Lamella'
limited
(Shelf Price: $192.00)
Offer: $157.00
“There’s great balance of blue and black fruit, with undertones of licorice, minerals, potpourri, bresaola, bitter chocolate and cherry confit. The palate is firmly framed yet silken in texture, with length and body that carry the finish for minutes. Made from 100% whole-cluster fermentation, from vines planted in 1858. Spiced, perfumed and textural, with a firmly built structure that will live for decades yet is delicious now, showing all the hallmarks of a world-class syrah. Excellent.”
99pts — James Suckling, jamessuckling.com
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“Following on from the perfect 2022 release, I find myself opening this wine with a fair bit of excitement. I called Dan Standish one day in early May 2023 (I think to ask my questions about the wines I was tasting), and he was in the vineyard up in Eden Valley, picking the Lamella fruit for this wine. 2023 was a wet, cool season, so much so that the fruit for this cuvée was picked in May. Still, aromatically, the 2023 Lamella Shiraz leads with sumac and orange peel, fresh raspberry, black cherry, licorice, petrichor, wet asphalt and river stones. Sandalwood and rose petals follow through the finish. This is velvety and grainy, supple and pliable. The tannins are dry and silky, and they perfectly balance the intensity of sweet/spicy fruit in the mouth. This wine is a clear example of why you must back a producer over a vintage, because a good producer will triumph no matter the conditions.”
98+pts — Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
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“I love this wine's powdered granitic heft and mineral cadence, the wink of Campari and bunchy nuance done just right and its composed 'Eden Valleyness'.”
97pts — Dave Brookes, James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion
Order here
(Link)
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(Link)
“Dear Readers, surely you would be by now well aware that I adore writing the wine notes in this missive.
On occasion I would prefer to let the experts do the talking. This is one such occasion.
Not, I hasten to add, because I cannot bring myself to open three bottles of Standish 2023 and savour every drop. Indeed, there are few things now that the weather has slightly turned more Autumnal that I would enjoy more.
I simply do not consider myself a Shiraz expert. Granted, there are names that I like in France and Australia. Just as I consult with George McCullough (Gum Wines) regarding potential Shiraz purchases, so too do I consult Erin Larkin’s notes on these wines.
I have, however, drunk my fair share of Standish (largely Lamella and Standish) from 2016 and 2018. They are fabulous wines that will reward cellaring … but, I suppose, you do not need me telling you!”
— David
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(Link)
The new Le Tuffeau
2026
This week, by the glass
A 25-year-old Chenin Blanc from Vouvray, Australia’s best rose, and an unusual Haut-Medoc … and a few more surprises!
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Please join us for a drink soon. Reservations preferred.
Bookings and after-6.00pm access: (03) 9419 3867
Tue. 11.00 am–6.00 pm
Wed.–Sat. 11.00 am–11.00 pm
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If you would like any of the above, would like to come by for a private appointment, or just have some questions — please let us know.