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.

Winemaking

Yacca Block sits at the top of Menglers Hill and is a prime example of the role sub-regionality plays in serious winemaking, with this vineyard only a 25 minutes drive from the Western Ranges of the Barossa Valley. The soil here is a mix of both quartz and ironstone and the vineyard’s high altitude allows for slow ripening that leads to a very soft and elegant Shiraz. This vineyard site also supplies Shiraz for Charlie’s Garden, and Riesling for The Boy.Menglers-Hill sub-region. 15 years old vines at an altitude of 483m. Shallow, skeletal grey sand loam soil with quartz gravel over weathered rock and yellow clay.

Tasting notes

A full-bodied wine with flavours of cedar spice, dark fruit and dark chocolate. The palate is succulent with fine tannins and noticeable length.