The idea for Two Hands was born in September 1999 when founders Michael Twelftree and Richard Mintz sat at a friend’s engagement party and decided it was time to make their own wine and market it on the world stage. The original aim was, and still is, to make the best possible Shiraz-based wines from prized growing regions throughout Australia. With so much Australian wine being sold around the globe under multi-region labels in a formulaic style, the intention was to break the mould and showcase the diversity of Australian Shiraz by highlighting regional and vineyard characteristics by allowing the fruit to be the primary feature of the wines.

About the wine

Gnarly Dudes, An unctuous yet classic Barossa Valley Shiraz. “I’m the Dude, so that’s what you call me. That or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing.” – The Dude, The Big Lebowski.

Winemaking

The continental climate of hot summer days and cold winters in the Barossa Valley is broken by a series of valleys and hills which provide a range of cooler micro-climates. The soil is a deep grey-red loam containing quartz and ironstone which helps to produce fruit that is rich and complex in flavour.The parcels of fruit were crushed into and fermented in 3, 5, 7 and 10 tonne open top vessels. Regular pump overs three times daily were performed during the peak of fermentation. At pressing, the free run and pressings were combined to tank, then racked to barrel for oak maturation. The wine was matured for 12 months in French oak, 13% new, and the remainder in one to six year old puncheons and hogsheads. All batches were kept separate and blended just prior to bottling.

Tasting notes

The 2021 Gnarly Dudes is deep brooding purple to black in colour. The aromatics are lifted and very intense, notes of bay leaf, dark berries, liquorice, cassis and violet and plum slowly emerge. All quintessential & typical of the characteristics found in the Barossa Valley.Written by Two Hands Wines proprietor Michael Twelftree upon release: “The palate is rich, powerful and penetrating. The wine slingshots a mouthful of flavour across your tongue and you are left with many succulent layers of spicy and dark fruit that flow. It is holding plenty in reserve and the tannins are fruitful but with a nervy persistence. This really has a strong core but comes across in waves and there is an evenness in this wine and it really is quite a ride. There is so much here to like and this will age brilliantly for the long haul. It’s just so well balanced as a young wine from a great vintage. It will enjoy 12+ years in a good cellar, with ease. Defined, proud and succulent.”