NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - TWO HANDS WINES WITH BEN PERKINS - 360 Bar & Dining, Sydney (2/05/2016)
A return visit from Two Hands after four years sees new winemaker Ben Perkins bringing a boxful of wines illustrating the latest offerings from this successful, 50-000-case, export-oriented wineery. Founding winemaker Matt Wenk has moved on, and although proprietor Michael Twelftree is obviously still very much in charge, the wines reflect a bit of a change in approach, perhaps in line with the lessening degree of influence that Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate has over trends in the Australian wine world. The range is vast for a fairly small winery; eight Picture series regional varietal wines ($27, whites are less), six different regional 2013 Grenaches under the ‘Twelftree label ($45), and five Garden series premium shirazes ($60) from different regions, all made using broadly the same technique to illustrate the regional differences. This range is being rejigged a little; there’ll be an Eden Valley variant shortly, but the current Padthaway and Langhorne bottlings are no more. Then there are 7 single vineyard 2014 reds comprising one Clare cabernet and half-a-dozen South Australian shirazes ($100), then the four A-named flagships: the new Adrestia sem/s-b blend ($80), Aerope grenache ($80), Ares shiraz and Aphrodite cabernet ($165). Plus some CD-only odds-and-sods including fortifieds. Phew. A lot of wines for a 50,000-case winery.
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2015 Two Hands Riesling The Wolf - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$25} Made from 55-yo vines on sandy soil. Pale colour, and clear, but sees 6 months on post-ferment lees which gives a dense, furry character to the texture. The youthful aromas are musky, with only a dash of lemon and a leesy quality as you’d expect. The palate is even, medium-bodied, with peach-like flavours laced with lemon curd, and gently-rounded, medium level acidity. Classy and restrained. Some feel that the post-ferment treatment takes the freshness and edge and general ‘rieslingness’ away from the wine. I thought this OK, but I have no idea how it would age. -
2012 Two Hands Adrestia - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills
{twintop, 12.5%, A$80} New; just the first or second vintage of this. Co-fermented grapes then see a 100% oak ferment before a malo-free transfer to stainless steel. A local take on white Bordeaux. Fairly deep lemon-gold colour. Lusciously cedary oak nose – practically a meal in itself. It’s medium/full-bodied, with marzipan flavours, aging grass, creamy and leesy; the palate is even and almost under-stated, but with a sweet fruit twist (sauv-blanc) on the medium/long dry finish and even a tannic quality from the oak. I liked this, but I’m not certain it’s built for much beyond a few years; it’s fearfully expensive though, and I certainly wouldn’t buy it with the glorified twin-top closure stuck in the top. This might be the country’s priciest example of this blend, just by the way. -
2013 Two Hands Grenache Twelftree Schuller Blewitt - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
{screwcap, 14%, A$45} I found this a bit sharp and dirty; fungal, bacterial even. It’s made pinot-style, with cold-soak, whole-bunch wild-yeast ferment, and not so much oak. It seemed heady and volatile to me; only a little of the jammy blackberries aromas seemed to carry onto the medium-bodied palate; it finished short, warm and hollow. That said, I seemed to be in the minority at the table, so who knows? The following Barossa version I thought streets ahead. -
2013 Two Hands Grenache Twelftree Vinegrove Greenock - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
{screwcap, 14.5%, A$45} This version of grenache is sweetly jammy, laden with ripe strawberries and malty oak. It’s medium-bodied, with low gritty tannins, understated oak on the palate and all that luscious fruit as promised by the nose. It does sit rather towards the front of the tongue, but it avoids too much heat or heaviness thanks to the medium acidity. Pretty good example of the grape in its Barossa guise. Probably better over five years or so. -
2014 Two Hands Shiraz Max’s Garden - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote
{diam, 13.5%, A$60} Hand-picked fruit, with 25% whole-bunches added to the ferment. It’s an impenetrable purple, and sends a blast of warm, extracted raw shiraz fruit, edged with baked earth up the nose. The palate is full-bodied, big and raw, with a hint of dark green menthol and fine dusty low level tannins. There’s some earth on the palate too, but it’s pretty friendly with dark spice and blackberry flavours. It has plenty of ripe presence in the mid-palate, and has a dry, medium-length finish to conclude. Has a promising freshness that should see it age more interestingly than the older vintage following, which is really from a different era. -
2006 Two Hands Shiraz Max’s Garden - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote
{screwcap, 11%, A$72} Just a modest price premium for this back release, and when you taste it you understand. This is the older, full-throttle style of Two Hands (more full throttle!) and it’s a good illustration of the sometimes modest evolutionary potential of this style of shiraz. This is still unbelievably dark-ruby for a decade old, but the nose gives away the age instantly, with moldering old spicy-and-compost aromas. The tannins have faded away totally; it has a fizz of acidity (which I can imagine turning volatile given enough time), but then just faded ripe fruit and gentle warmth of alcohol. Not an oaky finish either. Short/medium length. It’s pleasant enough, and may last longer, but this has already peaked. -
2014 Two Hands Shiraz Bella’s Garden - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
{diam, 13.5%, A$60} Youthful and vigorous; has lots of sweetly spicy blackberry and blueberry aromas, with some vanilla oak. An attractive perfume. The palate is blackish-tasting, with spice and pepperiness, along with fairly mild low-level tannins. Sits toward the front of the palate, and is increasingly pepper and spice-like. Has a medium length finish. Seems just a little dilute somehow; I wonder if the preponderance of single-vineyard Barossa shirazes is taking its toll on the fruit going into this? Hmmm. A nice enough wine, but struggles to justify its price. -
2014 Two Hands Shiraz Secret Block Moppa Hill - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
{twintop, 13%, A$100} Decanted just prior to dinner. This is a beautiful wine, fragrant and perfumed. Liqueured essence of silky sweet Barossa shiraz; blueberries and spice. Top French oak, medium powdery tannins, medium acid, immense fruit sweetness, but it doesn’t cloy or congeal. Very nice indeed. Only really medium-bodied, despite the lovely concentration; it has great balance, with a peak of sensation right through the mid-palate. Medium/long-finish of great purity. There’s so much here I fear the tannins might fade away too early. Maybe. But this will be stunning for quite a few years yet. My red of the might considering it’s two-thirds the price of the Ares. -
2013 Two Hands Shiraz Ares - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
{twintop, 14.8%, A$165} Decanted just prior to dinner. 80% Barossa, balance from McLaren Vale. A 30-barrel selection of the pick of the crop. Liquorice, malt, blackberries, vanilla oak aromas. Lavishly-fruited palate per the nose, the super-fine texture complemented by the only real tannins of the night; chalky and fine but quite powerful. Medium acid; full-bodied weight; long finish. A bit warm to me, but of undeniable quality. It might be harder to change styles for flagship wines; this carries its alcohol OK, but on tonight’s tasting I’d take the Moppa wine for long term aging (and for price!) -
NV Two Hands Fait Accompli Rare Muscat - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen
{500ml, twintop, 17%, A$100} A blend of Rutherglen muscat with material from Seppeltsfield, average age 25 and 45 years respectively, packed into a flashy reverse-pyramid bottle. Brown/olive-green in colour. An immensely powerful and intense nose of toffee and caramel. The palate has astoundingly rich flavours, with medium-sweet toffee/honey/butterscotch flavours offset by appropriately powerful acidity. I suppose you’d call it full-bodied for sheer flavour, but that probably doesn’t convey the purity and freshness of the flavours. Culminates in a predictably long, balanced finish. Staggeringly good wine; worth the premium over (for instance) the Morris Old Premiums in my opinion. Fantastic.
Thanks to Ben for bringing along this fine selection from Two Hands. Do I recall him saying they were moving towards diam closures for the top reds, and away from the twintop ‘cork’? I think that would be better… I also think the range has benefited in freshness from the lower alcohol levels in these newer vintages, compared to the range of wines we tried in 2010. And these single vineyard reds look very special indeed.