Two Hands

You might think that you like Shiraz. But you almost certainly don’t love it as much as the founders of Two Hands. When Michael Twelftree and Richard Mintz set up their winery they had a simple objective: to make the best possible Shiraz-based wines from Australia’s prime growing regions. That was back in 1999, and while the brief has slightly expanded since then via a few whites, a couple of stickies and a sparkler, the vast majority of what they make is red – and the vast majority of that is Shiraz – mostly single varietal, but occasionally part of a blend. The result is a wonderful snapshot of what Australia’s most-planted grape can do across a variety of regions, sub-regions, soils, altitudes and vine-ages, and in the hands of people who genuinely love and care for it. A mixed case from the likes of Eden Valley, McLaren Vale and different parts of the Barossa is a great way to see how Shiraz can reflect terroir – an element of the variety that is often overlooked.