Is this the finest Barossa Shiraz under $100? Standish The Standish Shiraz 2012

Standish The Standish Shiraz 2012 (Barossa, SA)
14.5%, Cork, $95

Sadly this wine may already be sold out, even though it was just released.

I can see why…

Drawn from Dan Standish’s parent’s 102 year old vineyard on Siegersdorf rd in Vine Vale, the fruit for this was hand-picked and wild fermented in concrete vats (including some egg fermenters), before basket pressing maturation for two years in French oak (15% new) with minimal racking before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

What sets this apart is not the A-grade provenance but the contrast between concentration and liveliness. Yes it’s thick, dense and black, built in a mode that would once have been deemed ‘Parker-esque’ in ripeness and low-yielding power.

Yet for all that purple, cocoa powder and plum fruit/oak generosity, this is not sweet. It’s not excessive at all actually – it doesn’t taste warm or extractive, nor does it feel overwrought. It’s just envelopingly rich, wonderfully, endlessly concentrated and utterly silken, the flavours too deep and beef broth savoury to be attributable to primary fruit alone, the finish long and utterly alive (if only lightly tannic).

As friend Julian Coldrey noted just yesterday, it is rare indeed when quality and pleasure intersects – yet this is such a beast – I wanted to drink more of this from the first mouthful.

A wine to remind just how delicious Barossa Shiraz can be.

Source: Glass from someone else’s bottle.
Tasted: July 2014
Drink: It will probably hit top gear in two years time. I’d be drinking within the next 10 years, though it will probably live for many years after that.
Score: 18.7/20, 95/100
Would I buy it? Gladly. $95 looks like a steal for something that is nagging at Hill of Grace level quality.