2020 Ares Shiraz

Name: 2020 Ares Shiraz
Brand: Two Hands Wines
SKU: FSARE207DLOP
Price: 200.0 AUD
Availability: InStock

Sale price $200.00

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Ares sits at the head of the Flagship Series, representing our finest expression of Shiraz. Inspired by the bold, passionate and powerful God of War from ancient Greek mythology, Ares is a fitting name for a wine of strength, intensity and commanding presence.

Shiraz is at the heart of the Two Hands story. From our earliest days, the pursuit of exceptional Shiraz has shaped our vineyard relationships, our winemaking philosophy and our reputation. Through our access to some of the finest Shiraz parcels across the country, Ares is crafted to capture a powerful and refined expression of the variety each vintage.

Each year, every one of our Shiraz barrels is tasted and assessed in the search for the finest cuvée to carry the Ares label. Only the barrels that show exceptional depth, structure, purity and longevity are selected. The result is a wine of power and precision; richly layered, deeply expressive and built to reward careful cellaring.

Tasting Notes

COLOUR | This wine pours like a deep, black elixir from the bottle.

AROMA | A tight bouquet on opening with mint, cherry, liquorice, and earth notes slowly appearing, backed by blood plum, icing sugar, raspberry conserve and dried herbs.

PALATE | In its youth the wine is not overly giving and is firmly built for the long haul. Rich, powerful and silky in length is the best way to describe the palate, with driving black fruits and layers of beautifully integrated compressed power. I like the energy here the most, the mouthfeel has wonderful tension, and the tannins are round, soft and silky.

Overall, this is quintessential Barossa Shiraz and shows what can be achieved with the best fruit from the Western Ranges. Such depth, character, and penetrating length will require a few more years in the cellar, this wine is built with a long life ahead and will show its best with another 10 or 20 years of bottle age.

The Growing Season

The 2020 vintage faced severe drought, with the Barossa Valley experiencing its driest winter since 1912. Despite low yields, innovative water-saving measures, including Sap Flow monitoring, helped manage resources. A hot January was followed by ideal ripening conditions in February and March. Picking was challenging due to variability across vineyards, requiring close monitoring. The Holy Grail vineyard delivered 132 tonnes of high-quality fruit, and improvements in winemaking processes under new Chief Winemaker Richard Langford led to excellent juice quality. Though yields were down over 50%, 2020 is remembered as one of the best vintages in terms of wine quality.

Vinification

Technical Information

CLOSURE | DIAM Cork
VARIETAL | Shiraz
REGION | Barossa Valley
ALCOHOL (% vol.) | 14.5%

Scores & Reviews

The Real Review
97 points
Stuart Knox
Published January 2025

"Deep ruby red in the glass. Blackberry, bitumen, black pepper and cocoa aromas. Dense and powerful on the palate, this sings of Barossa with its ripe blue and purple fruits, ironstone and mocha notes. All that intensity is wrapped up with an all-encompassing net of fine gravelly tannins that ensures tension is held and drives it to a vastly long finish. You could drink it now, but it will highly reward you if you can cellar it for an extended period.”