Marc Fagelman

8.9

Speak easy, drink easy! What a great BBQ wine — 3 years ago

Lauren Golanty

9.0

Delightful! Full bodied, no green pepper to speak of, earthy and layered. Some pepper and Cassis notes. Very tasty. — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

If you have not had this producer of Shiraz from Barossa, you are missing out on some special wines from very old vines. In the case of “The Relic” 100 year old vines. We walked the Standish Estate vines w/ Dan in April 2017. They yield a paltry 500 pounds of fruit per acre. Normally, very high quality wine are around 2,00-2,500 pounds of fruit per acre. So, his wines are from small concentrated berries.

You won’t find his wines in the US except on the secondary markets. He doesn’t have or need a US importer as he sells everything he makes through his mailing list. However, worth seeking out. Also, his wines need to age and you can find them this old. I have numerous times.

Dan started out in Barossa and then gathered much of winemaking knowledge working his way through Europe for several producers and a majority of them in France.

When he returned to Australia, he became the Winemaker at Torbreck before starting “The Standish Wine Company.”

I’ve posted several of his wines with detailed notes and will let them speak here. Cheers!

— 5 years ago

Jonathan Cullum

9.3

I really like this. I went into the wine shop in Belfort France, the guy didn't speak English but I told him I wanted something from the loire and this is what he gave me. Medium body with elegance and substance. — 7 years ago

Paul Richardson

8.9

Solid Baco Noir for its youth. Not a lot of tannin to speak of here but a healthy amount of blackberry, plum, and a touch of leather. Paired great with a steak and the company :). — 7 years ago

with Ellen

Zach Jindra

9.1

This is exemplar of letting the fruit speak for itself. Tart cherry, blueberry, fresh pomegranate, a touch of dried herb, tiniest bit of smoke.

Big acid, ruby red. — 8 years ago

Eric Casias

9.5

Such a treat. In the decanter as we speak. #cheers — 8 years ago

Byron C Mayes

9.0

Star bright gold in the glass. No mousse to speak of; bubbles are small and persistent. Yeasty, honeyed apple nose. Palate of dark honey, baked apple, and toast. Acidity is still quite firm and mouth-watering, despite its age. Finish is medium yielding a bit of floral honey on top of the rest. Wonderful example of a wonderful vintage that’s still showing well. — 9 years ago

Kurt Schuster

9.2

Smooth like Coltrane. No tannins to speak of, wonderfully round and inviting with smooth and wonderful perfectly ripe fruit shot through with vegetable tanned leather and smoked baking spices. It’s interesting because this wine exists outside of the ideas of cooked pies and food and everything in between, it exists a wine. We had it with perfectly cut steaks, asparagus, and sweet potatoes. It complemented it well but at the same time it could stand on its own. This wine slaps you back if you try to push it down. — 4 years ago

Ron R

9.4

Wifey is out of commission, so to speak, so I had to hunt and provide. Locked in on jerk chicken with roasted veggies.
She wanted something light in the glass (relative to cab), so I opted for Aston. Nose presents cinnamon. Mid palate is gnarly, rustic and textured. Loads of barrel toast and a hint of tart cherries, with prominent acidity. Finish keeps going… we may have under clubbed our rating. — 5 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

Mid Lemon in colour. Aromas of White Citrus flowers and a note of Mandarin. Lime and lemon on the palate with the citric acid having settled down from its youth. Not particularly complex - just a refreshing German dry Riesling 12% ABV. Good QPR at about $35AUD. Tasted again 18 weeks later on 16th January 2021 with similar impressions. There was mandarin, citrus oil and honey. No complexity to speak of but fresh and well presented - from an excellent producer. — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.6

2002 is such a beautiful vintage IMHO. In many ways, I think even better than 07. We’ll see in five years from now as I lack a time machine.

I’ve said this a couple of times over my nearly 4,200 Delectable notes. There is no amount of decanting a young wine that can reproduce the beauty, elegance, florals, integration, balance and finish as long bottle age. If you are buying expensive Cabernets and drinking them young, you are simply short changing yourself out of your deep investment.

This largely under known Napa producer is a shining example of that tonight. Proof in the pudding so to speak.

The nose reveals, sweet, ripe, lush, ruby, slightly baked/liqueured fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, black cherries, black plum, understated blueberries and baked strawberries haunt the backend. Dark Asian & Indian spices, black licorice to anise, sweet tarriness, black tea, dark expresso, crushed dry rocks, limestone minerals, herbal notes, mint, incense, graphite, dark chocolate, caramel & mocha, dry top soil, moist clay, dark rich, turn earth with fresh & withering; dark, red, purple, blue flowers & just a touch of violets.

The body is; round, rich & luxurious. The tannins still have baby teeth and show chewy tarriness. The tension, structure, length and balance have hit their peak. It’s not going to improve, it will simply show you descending changes which, can be quite enjoyable but, not necessarily for the ones that appreciate wines young. Interesting, none the less, for the ones that enjoy all sides/aspects of wine evolution. Sweet, ripe, lush, ruby, slightly baked/liqueured fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, black cherries, black plum, mulberries, boysenberries, more blue fruits than the nose, cherries and baked strawberries haunt the backend. Dark Asian & Indian spices with just the right amount of heat, black licorice to anise, sweet tarriness, black tea, dark expresso, crushed dry rocks, limestone minerals, herbal notes, mint, graphite, dark chocolate, caramel & mocha, dry top soil, moist clay, dark rich, turn earth, fresh tobacco, suede style leather, saddle-wood with fresh & withering; dark, red, purple, blue flowers & just a touch of violets. The ABV on this wine is really nice given today’s hotter wines. Climate change, it’s a bitch. The round acidy is as good as it gets. The long, excellent, elegant, rich, ripe, ruby, gorgeous, sexy, floral, perfectly balanced finish falls into persistent heaven.

This is a gorgeous example of what Napa Valley is capable of in grand vintages, if you have good storage & can show patience.

Photos of; an arial view of Jones Family Winery, patio tasting area, beautiful Jones Family Cabernet fruit and their amazing vineyards. — 6 years ago

Chris England

9.6

1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣6️⃣

🗞 Mad 🐮, N64 🕹, 🐑 Clone, Pathfinder 🛰
🎵 Don’t Speak, Macarena, Killing Me Softly
🎥 ID4 👽, Twister 🌪, A Time to Kill
🗣 Show me the Money!
🌍 5.738B

My last one 😭 A Superb BdB @ £90 I wish I had more of 😍

🍷 Light straw yellow

👃 Brioche, toffee’d green apple, honey, vanilla, charred caramel & sugared shortbread citrus biscuit

👄 Med bodied fine mousse of green toffee apple, citrus, baked honey & biscuit

🎯 Long shortbread & toffee apple linger w/ a green apple & dry citrus zing — 8 years ago

Chris Grimm

9.1

A perfect pairing with citrus salmon. — 9 years ago

with Brooke and Paula

Jan de Weerd

9.7

The Stones Speak. Did they ever! Full bodied, dense concentrates of decaying fall leaves after a fresh rain shower drenched in minerals, fine polished fully integrated tannins almost leaving a sweet edge. All secondary and tertiary notes. No distinct fruit to be recognized. It was like drinking extracts squeezed from the river rock on which they grow the Syrah. A flavor explosion as soon as it hits your mouth. — 4 years ago

with Tammy

Will Stanley

9.1

Really good nose, very inviting and so unmistakably left-bank. Aromas of blackberry, plum, cedar, pencil shavings, earthy quality, tiny hint of vanilla - all round an excellent, well balanced nose.

Palate a little less impressive, with quite a noticeable ‘hole’ in its middle, and some green pepper and tomato vine flavours. That fruit just disappears! Mostly sour cherry, cranberry, and quite a stalky palate with ample acidity, gentle tannins but not great depth to the fruit. It’s still enjoyable, though, and at this price £18 represents v good value.

I feel like this wine is an illustration of how it can hurt to be analytical about wine - dissecting a wine’s qualities and its flaws - as this is really a perfectly good Bordeaux in many aspects and does speak to its terroir. A little more body to the palate and this could’ve been a great wine. — 5 years ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.5

Vivid. All sorts of little purple flowers, the type that bloom early in the spring. Also, some just-ripe cherry, leaf litter, a little leather and pencil shavings. But so so floral. All the hallmarks of this bottling in astonishing balance here. Good acid, supple texture with just the silkiest of tannins. Wowing me already at the young age of 6 (for this wine), I think in time it will be a classic.

This is not a showy wine and won’t please everyone’s taste. But the class and finesse here speak volumes. — 6 years ago

Romain Fitoussi

9.0

wine to decant two-three hours to fully enjoy its aromas. Strong notes of caramel, chocolate or tobacco. the tannins although present remain flexible. it is an organic wine from the south west of France that tells the truth. no oak barrels or other artifices, the fruit and the earth speak and give us to taste a robust wine without exaggeration that will be associated with a southern meal. Very good value for money. — 7 years ago

Douglas Braun

9.0

Really enjoyed this herbs grass lime zest - gooseberry great acidity - this wine screams for seafood no oak to speak of medium minus on the body - thanks mark good find good value — 8 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.4

Oh fuck yah mayhaps I’ll always overrate a gamay from a cru. Like god damn Fleurie. I dunno. All I know is I love a complex Gamay. So let’s suck it up:, the red/black/blue notes are in but be willing to gulp more. Let the licorice SPEAK! Love that licorice-y shit. Sup it up. — 8 years ago