April News 2026

Welcome to the April Edition of Instinctively Curious

Vintage. It is the most intense and rewarding part of the season, when months of work in the vineyard finally arrive at the winery door and the 2026 wines begin to take shape.

This year’s vintage has also been a very different beast to last year. By April 2025, vintage was already wrapped up. This year, we are around halfway through, that is the beauty, and sometimes the madness, of working with the seasons. No two seasons are ever the same. You can make all the plans in the world, but nature still gets a say.

IN THE WINERY

The winery team is well and truly in the rhythm of long days, late finishes and plenty of moving parts. It is physical, technical work. One of the nicest rituals at this time of year happens once the work slows down. After a long shift, the winery crew sits down together for team dinners each night in the Cellar Door courtyard. Vintage can be exhausting, so not having to make dinner after a long shift is one of the perks. 

A brief summary of a day as a Vintage team member when it comes to Shiraz:
1. Fruit arrival
Most days begin with the fruit coming down the driveway. Vintage is all about timing, so picking windows are carefully managed to ensure each parcel arrives in ideal condition, with the right balance of flavour, tannin ripeness and natural acidity.

2. Weighing and crushing
On arrival, each load is weighed and processed through the crusher. This gives the winery team an accurate record of intake while preparing the fruit for fermentation. The aim here is to remove the stalks of the bunches efficiently, gently preserving fruit character while getting the must into fermenters in the best possible condition.

3. Fermentation
The fruit then spends around 14 days on skins. During this time, yeast converts sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide, while colour, tannin and flavour are extracted from the skins into the fermenting wine. Pump overs are carried out twice a day to wet the cap, keep extraction even, manage temperature and build structure without overworking the wine. 

4. Free run and dig out
Once fermentation is complete, the free run wine is drained off into a separate vessel. This fraction is often the purest and most refined expression from the fermenter. What remains is the skins, seeds and solids, which then need to be dug out by hand. It is one of the messiest jobs of vintage, but also one of the most satisfying.

5. Basket pressing
The remaining marc is transferred to the basket press, where it is pressed slowly and gently to extract the remaining wine. Pressing too hard can pull out coarser tannin, so patience is everything here. The pressings are kept separate from the free run initially, giving Richard the option to blend with precision later on.

6. Into oak for the next stage
From there, the wine is moved to oak to begin its next chapter, including malolactic fermentation. This secondary fermentation converts sharper malic acid into softer lactic acid, helping to build texture, roundness and complexity. It is also the point where oak starts to play its role, not to dominate, but to support the wine’s shape, detail and length as it develops.

IN THE VINEYARD

Vintage is not just about what is happening inside the winery. Out in the vineyard, we recently came together for a staff picking day, harvesting a portion of Holy Grail as one big Two Hands team.

It was an early start, with everyone arriving at 7am to a light drizzle. Buckets in hand, boots on, and rows of fruit ready to come off. There is something special about stepping away from the usual day to day office and cellar door roles and getting out amongst the vines together, particularly on one of our most important sites.

A special shout out has to go to Pierre, who flew into Adelaide the night before late from after an overseas trip and still turned up bright and early to join the pick. That is commitment.

Pictured left to right: Vanessa, Luke, Jo, Brad, Anthony F, Pierre, Peter, Lara, Morgan, Julie & Anthony E

EVENTS

A big thank you to everyone who joined Luke and Elaine at our Sydney dinner last month. It was a fantastic evening, with some great wines, delicious food and as always excellent company. Looking ahead, our Melbourne dinner in May is now fully sold out, thanks to everyone who grabbed tickets. After that, we are already planning our next Sydney dinner in June before turning our attention west and heading to Perth in July.

We love these dinners because they give us the chance to bring the wines to life in a different setting, with stories, back vintages and a few special bottles that always seem to show their best around the table. To keep up to date with dinners and events, check our Calendar of Events page.

The Good Food & Wine Show is nearly here! These weekends are always a highlight on our events calendar, a chance to catch up with so many of you in person and see our neighbour wineries in the Barossa pavilion.

MELBOURNE
Friday 29 May – Sunday 31 May 2026
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Opening hours: Fri / Sat / Sun: 10:00am – 5:00pm

SYDNEY
Friday 19 June – Sunday 21 June 2026
International Convention Centre Sydney
Opening hours: Fri / Sat / Sun: 10:00am – 5:00pm

IN CELLAR DOOR

The Cellar Door team are still buzzing after a big Easter weekend. It was wonderful to see so many people out enjoying the sunshine and making the most of a few beautiful autumn days here in the Barossa. A week later, the weather shifted and cooler temperatures and rain rolled in just as AFL Gather Round brought plenty of energy to the region. We had a great time pouring wines at events in both Tanunda and at Seppeltsfield, with visitors making the most of the festivities right across the valley.

There is also plenty happening here at Marananga. The Nature Trail now has its signage in place and is open as a self guided walk, giving visitors the chance to explore the history of Two Hands, our vineyards and of course see our beloved Scottish Highland cows with views of Seppeltsfield Road in the distance. We will soon be introducing a new Walk and Wine experience for groups, which we are very excited to share.

Our Vineyard Experiences were especially popular through March, with guests joining us to explore Holy Grail Vineyard. Walking among the vines while they were still full of fruit was a real highlight, with vintage activity all around adding to the experience. 

Back at Cellar Door itself, Coach House Block is proving a real favourite with visitors at the moment, and we’re also excited to have the new 2024 Picture Series now in stock. With cooler days and more regular rain on the way, our deck will be closed more often, so we do recommend booking ahead. Before long, the fireplace will be back in action, ready for cosy red wine season.

WINE CLUB
2024 SINGLE VINEYARD SERIES

Reminder to existing Single Vineyard Series members that your wines are released this April! The 2024 Single Vineyard Series release marks an exciting evolution of the pack, with the introduction of a new wine and, for the first time, a Grenache in the collection. Joining the lineup is 'Timeless Sands Block', a Grenache sourced from an exceptional vineyard site in Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale. Its inclusion reflects the continued direction of the Single Vineyard Series, shining a light on remarkable small parcels of fruit that deliver distinctive, site driven expressions of each variety. Personally selected by Richard, this parcel was elevated to Single Vineyard status on merit alone the moment he tried it. The name draws inspiration from the ancient sandy soils of Blewitt Springs, a defining feature of the wine’s elegance and structure.

• 2024 Timeless Sands Block Blewitt Springs McLaren Vale Grenache
• 2024 Yacca Block Mengler’s Hill Eden Valley Shiraz
• 2024 Secret Block Moppa Hills Barossa Valley Shiraz
• 2024 Coach House Block Greenock Barossa Valley Shiraz
• 2024 Holy Grail Seppeltsfield Barossa Valley Shiraz
• 2024 Kraehe House Block Marananga 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 to Learn More!

Anthony grew up in Adelaide. His career in logistics started in Dampier and then Melbourne working in the Maritime industry. A passion for food and wine led Anthony and his family to the Barossa in 2011, where he has worked in wine production and logistics ever since, being with Kaesler for 10 years before joining team Two Hands. He’s a keen gardener growing most of the vegetables that his family eats. He also loves the challenge of cooking the perfect steak on the BBQ, pairing it with bruschetta made from his tomatoes and a Barossa red!

Q&A:
What's a typical day in production look like?
Most days start at 6am, usually waiting on a call from the bottling line. Once I arrive, the first thing I’m checking is the labelling to make sure everything is running with the right stock. From there, the day is spent keeping an eye on the full bottling process, making sure there are no errors with labels, no cracked bottles, and that everything is moving as it should. I’m also coordinating with the warehouse crew around the arrival of goods. On top of that, there are always future projects in the mix too, whether that’s changes to boxes, updated labels, or barcodes. There’s a lot that goes into it, and no two days are ever quite the same.

How much collaboration with Richard is in your job?
We keep things running smoothly by working off a shared spreadsheet with live bottling dates, so everyone can see what’s coming up and the winery can be ready when those dates roll around. It helps keep communication clear and makes the whole process a lot easier to manage.

Best time of the year to visit Barossa and why?
Right now. I love autumn in the Barossa. You get to see the vines changing colour, and as the leaves start to fall away you can really appreciate those perfectly straight, precise rows as you drive past. It also means winter is close, the fireplace starts getting lit again, and you can settle back into drinking reds by the fire.

What song, album or artist would be on your work day playlist?
It’s a bit all over the place, so it’s hard to pin down just one, but probably some Springsteen. I share an office with Anthony E as well, so sometimes the whole office ends up getting his playlist through the mini speakers whether we planned on it or not.

Finally, current favourite Two Hands wine?
At the moment it would have to be Sexy Beast, mainly because it has just been bottled. I enjoyed telling the bottling staff that the people on the label are Two Hands staff members kissing at the Christmas party, just to get a reaction and see their faces, even though that’s not actually true. That label always gets a good laugh wherever it goes.