Why Scottish Highlanders?
Why not? Two Hands Proprietor Michael Twelftree has always loved cows and when the opportunity came to have his own, he jumped at the chance. Brutus was a character in MT’s favourite childhood comic, Asterix, and thought it was a fitting name for our gruff ‘hairy coo’.
Highland cattle have a docile temperament, Brutus and his ladies are no exception. Although, they are naturally quite protective of the calves and during feeding time, let’s say there is a little bit of argy-bargy in the ranks. Records show that Highland cattle are actually the oldest registered breed in the world and interestingly, a group of Highland Cattle is not called a herd but a “fold” instead. Our “fold of five” are free to graze around their large acreage paddock living the high life. Brutus and his family are often seen taking a dip in their purpose-made dam or leisurely lying around, just taking in the splendour of Holy Grail Vineyard.
Assisting our Viticulture
The highlanders are helping out the soil health of our estate Vineyards with their waste along with 100% of the grape must post vintage both contributing to the 300 tonnes of organic compost we add back into our vineyards each year, in order to support the natural balance within our vines.
Meet the Fold
Set off in one of our bespoke Landrovers for a Vineyard Experience and you’ll discover there is more to our Holy Grail vineyard than just vines and a breathtaking view. Taste the Holy Grail Shiraz onsite and say Hi to Brutus and his ladies on the way back to Cellar Door for a tasting in our private tasting room.
Special Feeding Time
Our neighbours Seppeltsfield Road Distillers take sustainability as seriously as we do. When distilling House Gin and peeling a bunch of oranges to use the peel. Normally they juice the fruit to make syrups and cordials for cocktails, but sometimes our cows get lucky with a special treat!
Brutus
We loved our original bull Brutus, he was already massive and quite old when we purchased him. Sadly as he aged his mobility got slower and slower, and his health started to decline, but in true Brutus style he left us two of his prodigy just before he passed away at the ripe old tender age of 21.
Brutus’s bloodline, along with the two female cows Clementine and Cloe, can be traced right back to the original stock of Scottish Highland cattle that arrived in Australia in the 1950s.
Clementine & Cloe
As for our lady cows, we have always had two to be companions to Brutus. Their names are Clementine and Cloe.
Clementine is the older of the two cows, she has the larger set of horns and they are much more twisted than her sister. Cloe also is the younger of our two cows, she has a flatter set of horns and is slightly smaller in size.
Brutus II
Young Brutus is a handsomely striking young bull, with a near-perfect straight back and terrific feet. Michael spent some time with him in the enclosure and immediately loved his soft and gentle temperament.
Young Brutus has settled in very well to his new home at Holy Grail, he is a different colour to Old Brutus, who was a deep red, whereas Young Brutus is a Dun colour. It will be exciting to see what the colour of his offspring will be in the years to come.
Patty & Selma
The our new girls!
We put the call out on Instagram for everyone to assist us naming these two gorgeous gals from a few of team Two Hands’s top picks. Thelma & Louise, Arya & Sansa, Patty & Selma or Paris & Nicole. The outright winner was Patty and Selma, Marge’s sisters from the Simpsons. We think the big hair suits them!
Patty and Selma live at Holy Grail Vineyard at the moment but might soon make the move to a new home near Cellar Door for visits! Stay tuned!
