2023 Secret Block Moppa Hills Shiraz

COLOUR | Deep layered purple to black.

AROMA | Floral notes of mint, sarsaparilla, violets, rose petal and pomegranate. Blackberry, cassis, damson plum and blueberry are layered with black liquorice, maraschino liqueur, soft chocolate, malt and cocoa.

PALATE | Rich, powerful and brooding, with a dense, fleshy core of ripe plum, blackberry and blueberry preserve. Star anise, liquorice and dark chocolate meld with white pepper, dried leather and savoury spice, combining an old-world savouriness with the vibrant fruit intensity of Barossa Valley Shiraz. Compact, silty, ferruginous-edged tannins provide immense structure, yet remain velvety and refined in their delivery. A blackberry-pastille brightness to the acidity brings lift and persistence, carrying the wine through a long, polished finish. A bold but finely balanced Shiraz that rewards contemplation and will continue to reveal its layers with time.

The 2023 vintage was one of the coolest, wettest and latest in Two Hands’ history. A wet winter and cold spring slowed early vine growth considerably, pushing the season several weeks behind normal before warmer conditions arrived in early summer. With a cooler ripening period ahead, yields were carefully managed and vineyard work focused on achieving healthy, open canopies and optimal fruit maturity. Harvest began in late March and continued through to 2 May, our latest finish on record. Careful picking decisions and patient winemaking proved crucial, resulting in wines of impressive quality and consistency, with excellent balance, freshness and a distinctive expression of this long, cool growing season.

WINEMAKING | One small parcel from this single block was picked on the 30th of March. Crushed and de-stemmed into a single 5-tonne open top fermenter. The time spent on skins was 10 days with 2-3 pump overs daily. All free run and pressings were combined in tank and after 24 hours the wine was then racked off gross lees to barrel, where malolactic fermentation occurred. The wine was bottled with minimum fining and no filtration.

MATURATION | 18 months in up to 50% new French oak and 2/3 year old hogsheads. 3 barrels bottled in November the following vintage.

CLOSURE | Diam Cork
VOLUME | 750ml
VARIETAL | Shiraz
ALCOHOL (% vol.) | 14.6%
REGION | Barossa Valley
SUB-REGION | Moppa Hills
VINE AGE | 23 years
ALTITUDE | 335m
AVERAGE RAINFALL | 450mm
SOIL | Deep grey-red loam containing coarse quartz and ironstone gravel over clay.

Wine Advocate
96 points
Erin Larkin
Published June 2026

"The 2023 Secret Block Wildlife Road Moppa Hills Shiraz is floral, depicting rose petals and pomegranate, cedar and violets. The palate shows immense structure, and yet it does so with finesse. This is a beautiful wine—it has hutzpah yet also restraint. It is good.”