The Standish The Relic Shiraz Viognier 2022
The Standish The Relic Shiraz Viognier 2022

The Standish The Relic Shiraz Viognier 2022

Cellar or drinkRed wineAustralia98+ points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate CorkInvestment grade

Old-vine Shiraz, Rhône flair, and undeniable presence 🍷💫

The 2022 Standish The Relic blends Barossa muscle with a hint of French elegance. Sourced from an ancient vineyard in Krondorf—where gnarly old Shiraz vines meet a whisper of Viognier—this release brings lift, spice, and layered beauty to Standish’s signature power.

Recognised as a Classified (Second Growth) in Langton’s Classification, The Relic is the most Rhône-inspired of the quartet. The small addition of Viognier adds perfume and silkiness. It’s generous and structured, yet hauntingly graceful—the kind of wine that stops you mid-sentence.

If Barossa is known for impact, The Relic proves it can also whisper.

Drink window,2024 to 2052
Historical performance*,WineSearcher
Type,Red wine
Varietals,Shiraz, Viognier
Vintage,2022
ABV,14.9%
Country,Australia
Region,South Australia
Sub region,Barossa Valley
Bottle size,750ml
Bottle closure,Cork

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Flavour & structure
Black fruitSpice & pepperFine tanninsBalanced
Food pairing
Red meatSteak & BBQ

What the experts say about this wine

The 2022 The Relic Shiraz-Viognier contains 2% Viognier skins, and this addition presents in this vintage as a core of raspberry and pomegranate. It is pure fruited and powerfully aromatic, as this cuvee always is. Interestingly, I am tasting this wine from two different glasses: one opened two days ago, one opened this morning. They are quite different, telling us once again that oxygen really is a friend to this producer, especially if choosing to drink these wines young. While the bottle opened two days ago is complete, balanced and utterly refined, it speaks more of its florals and fruit than it does its savory register of spice and complexity. However, the wine opened today has nuances of bacon fat and exotic spice. It is tightly coiled and springy and nowhere near as giving as the former. So, choose your own path. This vintage is a prettier, finer but no less long or coiled version of itself, and it will prove to be one of the greats in the cellar. The tannins certainly are a highlight for me. Built for age but also, in the framework of this beautiful season, absolutely available to you right now. An effortless beauty, here. 14.9% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink 2024 - 2052.

There is a considered 1% of viognier in this wine. It was wonderful to run through barrels with Dan Standish earlier this year, a matrix of information about the wines and how detailed the final wines are from the barrels considered.
Rich and robust red albeit with a thread of coursing minerality, frisky, floral perfume (and mouth perfume), varied red and black berry fruits, turned earth, game meat, woody spices, faint minty-alpine herb notes. So very much going. Slippery and slurpy, cinched with fine, grainy tannins, a faint sooty spice element to that but feels mostly skinsy and tight by virtue of pure, deep grapiness. A throaty, rich, somewhat warm red with impeccable credentials and great balance. Regal in its stance. Drink 2024 - 2038.

Behind the bottle

The makers behind this great wine

THE STANDISH WINE COMPANY

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