Welcome to the April edition of Instinctively Curious, the Two Hands Wines monthly newsletter. Read on for updates on what is happening out in the vineyard and around the winery, event updates and more!
VINTAGE 2024 IS COMPLETE!
Whats happening in the Winery
Vintage has been a short, sharp ride over the past 6 weeks. The crew are finishing up at the end of this week as we have picked our last grape for the year. As our final fermenters are being drained and pressed we take a look back on the vintage with Chief Winemaker Richard Langford.
“The 2024 season was one that rewarded patience. With an atypical season seeing few days over 35C until the heatwave in early March, this was a year similar to 2021 except it was much drier. As March began the fruit was slowly ripening but the flavours we desired had not fully developed. We had to hold our nerve during the hot week, knowing volumes would be affected but the end result would be worthwhile. There will be some great wines produced from this year”
The first releases from the 2024 season will be our Trusty Rusty Rose and The Boy Riesling and we can’t wait to share them with you.
Below is the journey our Shiraz takes throughout the winemaking process.
PICKING Grape samples are brought in by Peter and our growers for the winery team to test sugar levels, acidity and colour to best determine the optimal time to harvest. Once ready, they arrive at the winery here in Marananga to be weighed and crushed.
CRUSHING The first step is to de-stem and crush the grapes. The crusher gently removes the fruit from the stalks, we don’t use whole bunch pressing here at Two Hands.
FERMENTING & PUMPING OVER Once crushed the flesh, skins and seeds of the grapes are moved into a stainless steel fermenter for roughly 7 days (depending on the wine). There are lots of different vessels you can use to ferment wines, we at THW choose stainless open fermenters for the majority of our wines! It is during this process that the sugar and yeast become alcohol and CO₂.
Pumping over is a vital step to keep the skins submerged with the wine, extracting the full flavour and colour. This is usually done twice a day while the wine is fermenting.
PRESSING From here we drain the free run wine from the tank and put the remaining skins into a basket press. Pressing the skins gives us about 15% more wine! This part of the job is the fun you have been seeing on our socials of the casual crew digging the skins out of the fermenter. They have been digging out tonnes and tonnes every day! Hard work!
MLF Also called ‘malo’, or malolatic fermentation. This secondary fermenting process takes place several months after initial fermentation and it gives both red and white wines a richer and creamier texture. The natural Malic Acids are tart and sharp, luckily they are easily converted into Lactic acid which are lovely and soft and round, giving a more approachable mouthfeel to the wine.
AGING Our preferred vessel to age our Shiraz here at Two Hands is French Oak. We typically use ‘Puncheons’ 500L and ‘Hogsheads’ 300L for the maturation process, with different wines receiving higher percentages of new oak then others. The wines will sit aging gracefully under the watchful eye of Richard and the team for different periods in oak depending on the particular wine. A great example of this is our Gnarly Dudes Shiraz, spending 12 months in oak. Whilst Ares, the Flagship Shiraz, spends 18 months in oak. The barrel’s age and size affect the amount of oak character that will be imparted into the wine. Smaller barrels impart more oak flavour because they allow more contact between the wood and the wine. Oak barrels lose their signature flavour with use, so they must be replaced every few vintages.
BLENDING & BOTTLING For Richard and MT tasting our barrels along their journey as they age in the winery is a vital step in the production of our wines. Classifying the wines into our 4 series based on their quality and making sure nothing makes it to their final blend that they are not completely satisfied with. All of our wines are bottled here in the Barossa, ready to move to our Barossa warehouse for release.
ENJOYING This is where all of you reading get to be involved! The wines are complete and are ready to be enjoyed around the table. Pick your favourite! Whether its a Gnarly Dudes, Bella’s Garden, Holy Grail or Ares a lot of hard work by our wine making team has happened to get that favourite bottle to you.
UPCOMING EVENTS
MEMBERS DINNER MELBOURNE
GARDEN STATE HOTEL
30th May 2024
We look forward to you joining us for an exclusive and private dinner with DTC Manager Luke at the Garden State Hotel in the middle of the Melbourne CBD on Thursday, May 30th from 6:00 pm. The four course menu, will be served with a selection of current and museum release Two Hands Wines, carefully selected to compliment the meal. With only 5 seats left we strongly suggest booking straight away so as not to miss out on what will certainly be a great evening! Learn more by clicking the below link.
For details and booking info for these and other upcoming events in your area please check out our calendar of events.
SYDNEY DINNER
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
We will back in Sydney in late June for the Good Food & Wine Show. As we were recently in town we haven’t currently planned another dinner, but if we get enough interest we will do.
Please let Luke or Morgan know if you are interested in us hosting another dinner.
DTC Manager Luke was recently trekking through South East Queensland with some great events in Brisbane, Noosa and Caloundra. One of our members commented,
Great time last Thursday night – good venue, good food, good company, great wine.
Luke’s next stop will be Canberra for a sold out members dinner and the Taste Canberra Festival. As always, keep an eye on our calendar of events page to keep up with the latest events in your state. If you are interested in hosting a Two Hands event at your office, golf club or even at your marina please contact Luke.
WINE OF THE MONTH
YACCA BLOCK
EDEN VALLEY SHIRAZ
When our Viticulturist Peter answered in his Q&A below that Yacca Block was his favourite wine we decided to show it off as the wine of the month.
Perched high up on the hillside of the Eden Valley, this beautifully positioned vineyard is surrounded by ancient Yaccas. 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.
“I love the fact that you can drive 12 minutes due east of the winery and it feels like you have driven a world away. Surrounded by rolling hills, gum trees, pastures and 500 year old Yacca plants. This site has a special feeling, it is incredibly peaceful and serene. From a winemaker’s point of view the soil composition is so interesting, ancient and full of decomposing rock, and then of course we come to the wine. Not as bold or as rich as the Western Ranges yet more detailed, finer and more aromatic”
WINE CLUB
2022 SINGLE VINEYARD SERIES
Reminder to existing Single Vineyard Series members that your wines are released this April.
Wines that are included in your pack:
- 2022 Dave’s Block Blewitt Springs McLaren Vale Shiraz
- 2022 Waterfall Block Burnside Adelaide Shiraz
- 2022 Yacca Block Mengler’s Hill Eden Valley Shiraz
- 2022 Secret Block Moppa Hills Barossa Valley Shiraz
- 2022 Coach House Block Greenock Barossa Valley Shiraz
- 2022 Holy Grail Seppeltsfield Barossa Valley Shiraz
Want to join our Wine Club to gain access to events, discounts, exclusive access to the Two Hands museum collection, and pre-releases? Contact us below to join the 2022 Single Vineyard Series.
JOIN WINE CLUB CONTACT US
Peter joined the wine industry in 1997 after studying a Bachelor of Applied Science in Viticulture at CSU Wagga Wagga. He moved to the Barossa in 1999 and spent years on the ground working in some of the region’s best vineyards and establishing new vineyards in both Clare and Barossa. He has previously worked for Brown Brother’s in Victoria as grape supply manager, was a lecturer for TafeSA in viticulture, owned his own consulting business, and before joining our team was Viticultural Manager for Accolade Wines in the Barossa.
What brought you to the wine industry?
Growing up, my parents always exposed us kids to wine around dinner time. When deciding to join the industry and study I decided quickly that working in the winery and lab wasn’t for me and being outside on the vineyards with growers was more my style.
Best part of vintage?
The end. 😀
Favourite vineyard to visit and take pup Chip with you?
Yacca Block, the views at the top of the block at Eden Valley are pretty speccy + Chip loves chasing the rabbits whilst out there.
What do you do in your spare time?
Look after other vineyards! There are a few friends I work with, plus our own vineyard at home, Garden & Field Wines.
Favourite Two Hands Wine and why?
Yacca Block because being a cooler climate Shiraz, the flavours develop more fully and slowly over the season. There is a richness surrounded by elegance in this wine.
Any future favourite wines you’ve tasted in barrel?
2022 Invenienda is amazing and 2023 Holy Grail Shiraz, it is a cracker.
