Welcome to the August edition of Instinctively Curious, the Two Hands Wines monthly newsletter.
The weather has turned sharply in the Barossa in recent days as a spate of warm weather is seeing new blossom and signs of activity in the vineyards across the region.
Read on below for an interesting look at the soil management techniques that are employed across our estate vineyards, the latest goings on in the winery (with a special birthday!) and news on events and some major announcements for our Wine Club members.
IN THE VINEYARD
PRUNING CONCLUDES
Signs of Spring are popping up around the Barossa, with almond blossoms flowering and bud swelling on the vines, showing that the vineyards will be only a few short weeks away from the start of the next season. Pruning has now been 100% completed in our Holy Grail and Branson Coach House vineyards with only the Kraehe block next to cellar door to complete, which is crucial as we’ve seen some warmer than average weather this week.
SOIL MANAGEMENT
Soil management is a very important area of viticulture and ultimately winemaking that many may not even think about. In order to make great wine, you must have healthy and productive vines that produce fruit of the high caliber we are looking for at Two Hands. With that in mind, our Viticulture Manager Peter & his team have implemented a soil management plan, that compliments the other viticultural practices we use, to improve soil composition, vine health and ultimately higher quality fruit.
We’ve sown selected species of perennial Medics or Burclover between the vine rows. Once established, few other legumes outperform medics in soil-saving, soil-building and—in some systems—forage, when summer rainfall is less than 15 inches. They serve well in seasonally dry areas such as the Barossa. With more rainfall, however, they can produce almost as much biomass and Nitrogen as clovers. These plants take nitrogen out of the air, store it in their roots, and when the plant dies, that nitrogen is available to feed the biology and other plants over the next year. It’s an annual, and natural, slow release fertiliser.
We use our own compost made with grape marc and the manure from Brutus and our fold of Scottish Highlanders. This organics rich compost is spread throughout the vineyard to further build healthy soils and improve the quality of fruit our vines produce each year. We also apply mulch under vine using wheaten straw to help keep the vine roots cool and moist and lock in that important winter rainfall for the dry summer to come.
IN THE WINERY
BLENDING & A BIRTHDAY!
The winemaking team are busy preparing 2023 Picture Series reds for bottling and have begun the process of assessing small parcels of wine for the the 2024 Gnarly Dudes. This important process happens over several weeks where Richard & Jett go through samples from across the various Shiraz parcels we have produced this year to determine which wines they will end up in.
As we empty the 2023 Picture Series wines from barrel, each one is given a thorough clean (pictured below). Every time barrels are emptied they are given an 80 degree, 3min wash to remove lees (the sediment) from the barrel and prepare them to be filled with the next vintage of wines.
On the 13th of August we celebrated Chief Winemaker, Richard’s birthday! Fun fact about Two Hands, every staff members birthday is always celebrated with a cake for the team to share.
In exciting news, the first 2024 wine is almost ready! 2024 The Boy Eden Valley Riesling is getting bottled this week and we can’t wait to get our hands on it. Release dates and tasting notes will be coming soon.
EVENTS
ADELAIDE
20th September 2024
The Lion Hotel | Private Cellar Room
After the popularity of last years members dinner in Adelaide we have plans to host another members dinner in Adelaide later this year. This dinner will feature wines from our Flagship and Single Vineyard Series. Limited tickets are still available, book your soon so as not to miss out!
WINE CLUB UPDATE
Earlier this year we announced some exciting changes coming to our Wine Club. We have been actively looking at ways to further reward our long-term members for some time now and are almost ready to go live with the new benefits. In short, the longer you are a Wine Club member, the more benefits you will receive! If you need to update your details with us please contact our wonderful Wine Club Ambassador Julie with your new information.
For more information on how to join our Wine Club and become a member yourself, please visit our Wine Club page.
LIMITED EDITION
25 YEARS OF TWO HANDS TEE’S
We’ve created 100 limited edition “25 years of Two Hands” tee’s to celebrate the milestone! They are available in person at Cellar Door or online. Limited stock of each size is available, if your size is sold out please contact Luke or Morgan to assist.
WINE OF THE MONTH
HARRY & EDWARD’S GARDEN
2014 MUSEUM RELEASE
Made from 2003 to 2014 Harry & Edward was made from a selection of our finest barrels from Langhorne Creek, South Australia. Named after Two Hands founder Richard’s twin boys Harry & Edward.
WINEMAKING
Crushed into and fermented in five tonne, open top fermenters with regular pump overs (three daily over peak fermentation) to extract colour, flavour and tannins. Following 12 days on skins, the free run was drained to tank. The skins were pressed and combined with the free run juice, after 24 hours in tank, the wine was racked to barrel where malolactic fermentation took place. Minimal fining and filtration is used.
MATURATION
Aged for 18 months in 5 year old French Oak hogsheads.
CELLAR POTENTIAL
10-15 years
Born and raised in an Italian family in the South East region of South Australia, Irene has always understood the importance of good food and wine. This upbringing played an integral role in Irene starting a career in the wine industry, which has spanned 30 years prior to her joining the team at Two Hands. In addition to her time in Coonawarra, Irene has also enjoyed working across several famous wine regions, including Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills and the Barossa Valley. Outside of the office, Irene can be found laughing with friends and family over a nice glass of wine and a platter of some locally sourced food.
What brought you to the wine industry?
Years ago driving through the Coonawarra several times a month when the canopy was at it’s fullest was just beautiful and I always thought it would be amazing to work in the industry, and the love of wine goes without saying.
Favourite things to do on a day off?
Catching up with friends and family, reading, movies and sitting in the sun relaxing with a glass of wine.
Favourite Two Hands Wine and why?
There are few to choose from, Brave Faces because I like blends and this is a well rounded wine with a soft finish. 2020 Yacca Block is drinking fantastic at the moment and Anteros Mataro when looking from a break from Shiraz.
Any future favourite wines you’ve tasted that aren’t released yet?
2022 Samantha’s Garden full bodied with a smooth finish.
