Two Hands : Charlie's Garden Shiraz 2021

Tasting notes and serving suggestions for the Charlie's Garden Shiraz 2021 from Two Hands

Tasting

Color

The color reveals a deep purple hue with bright ruby highlights.

Nose

The nose is intense and captivating, unfolding aromas of dried spices, nutmeg, and mocha. Fresh floral notes accompany this complex bouquet, while hints of blackberry, licorice, raspberry, black tea, and spring flowers enrich the whole. A mineral dimension reminiscent of crushed rock lends a distinctive signature to the aromatic expression.

Palate

On the palate, the wine delivers an explosive attack of intense dark fruit, notably blackberry and plum. The texture is both powerful and delicate, carried by vibrant acidity and velvety tannins with a fine, powdery grain. Dark-fruit flavors are lifted by touches of herbs and spice, while the tannins sink deep across the tongue without drying the palate. The finish stretches out at length on mineral and spicy notes, showcasing remarkable aromatic persistence.

Food and wine pairings

The Charlie's Garden Shiraz 2021 pairs perfectly with roast chicken with garlic-herb butter, whose crisp skin and deep flavors echo harmoniously in the wine’s richness and spicy complexity. This shiraz also shines alongside red meats such as pepper-crusted New York strip steak, beef Wellington, or lamb shanks braised with rosemary and garlic. Duck dishes—especially roasted duck breast with cherries or crispy duck confit—also make excellent matches. For cheese, opt for aged hard cheeses like cheddar, Manchego, or Gouda, as well as blue cheeses such as Gorgonzola or Roquefort.

Serving and cellaring

The Charlie's Garden Shiraz 2021 can be enjoyed now while also offering outstanding aging potential. Under good cellaring conditions, this wine can evolve beautifully through around 2040.

An elegant, mineral Australian shiraz from Eden Valley by Two Hands

The estate

Two Hands was founded in September 1999 by Michael Twelftree and Richard Mintz. Based in Marananga in the Barossa Valley in Southern Australia, the House vinified its first vintage in 2000 with just seventeen tons of grapes. Today, Michael Twelftree remains the owner alongside Pierre-Henri Morel, who became co-owner in 2022 after joining the company in 2014. Richard Langford, named the Barossa’s 2018 Winemaker of the Year, has served as head winemaker since 2019. Two Hands has established itself as an exceptional négociant, recognized by Robert Parker as “the finest négociant south of the equator,” crafting shiraz that express the authenticity of their original terroirs across six Australian wine regions. The House earned unprecedented critical recognition by appearing in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 for ten consecutive years through 2012.

The vineyard

Charlie's Garden comes from a vineyard located on Menglers Hill in the Eden Valley region, at an elevation of 800 meters. This high-altitude site in the northeast of the Barossa Valley enjoys a markedly cooler climate than the valley floor, with significant day-to-night temperature swings that encourage the development of complex aromas and the preservation of natural acidity. Skeletal soils of gravelly loam over clay, derived from quartz deposits, provide exceptional drainage while imparting a distinctive mineral character to the wine. Annual rainfall of around 800 millimeters supports balanced vine growth. The surrounding landscape, shaped by native fauna and eucalyptus trees, inspired the bottle’s design, underscoring the deep connection between the wine and its natural environment.

The vintage

The 2021 vintage was recognized as outstanding for Southern Australia. Cooler than the 2020 vintage, the conditions of the year produced wines with great freshness, preserved acidity, and remarkable aging potential. These climatic factors favored the creation of balanced wines that combine concentration and elegance.

Winemaking and aging

The Charlie's Garden Shiraz 2021 is made exclusively from hand-harvested grapes, selected from the vineyard’s finest small parcels. Fermentation takes place in open-top vats with manual pump-overs twice a day, allowing for gentle extraction of color, tannins, and aromas. After ten days of maceration, the free-run juice is separated, then blended with the press fractions before being transferred to barrels. Aging lasts eighteen months in French oak barrels, 15% of which are new oak. Malolactic fermentation is carried out in barrel, refining the wine’s texture.

Grape variety

100% shiraz