Two Hands : Secret Block Shiraz 2021

Tasting characteristics and advice for the 2021 Secret Block Shiraz from Two Hands

Tasting

Color

The color reveals a deep purple hue with black highlights.

Nose

The nose shows remarkable aromatic complexity, with lovely floral notes of violet, lavender, and mint. Added to these are aromas of dried herbs, eucalyptus, milk chocolate, and fresh blackberry jam.

Palate

Rich and powerful, the palate unfolds intense flavors of black plum, blackcurrant, and licorice. The wine develops with softness and purity across the palate, revealing a ferocious tannic texture through the mid-palate that gives the wine an austere character. The finish, long and complex, concludes with notes of charcoal and India ink.

Food and wine pairings

This wine pairs particularly well with red meats such as beef, as well as game like venison (roe deer).

Serving and cellaring

The 2021 Secret Block Shiraz can be enjoyed now and will continue to evolve through around 2036.

A powerful and harmonious Barossa Valley shiraz

The estate

Founded in 1999 by Michael Twelftree and Richard Mintz, Two Hands Wines has established itself as one of Australia’s benchmark producers of premium shiraz. Based in Marananga in the Barossa Valley, within the Southern Australia region, the estate is now run by Michael Twelftree and Pierre-Henri Morel as co-owners, alongside head winemaker Richard Langford. Recognized as “the finest négociant operation south of the equator” by Robert Parker, Two Hands was named in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 for ten consecutive years—an achievement never matched. The estate exports its wines to more than sixty-nine countries and stands out for its artisanal approach, favoring the expression of its terroirs.

The vineyard

The Secret Block is located in the Moppa Hills, on the northwestern slope of the Barossa Valley, at an altitude of 335 meters. This small, mature vineyard, planted on an east-facing aspect, benefits from deep gray-red clay-silt soils containing coarse quartz and ironstone gravel over a substantial clay base. The vines, around twenty years old, enjoy a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and average annual rainfall of 450 millimeters. The high altitude brings cool nights that preserve the grapes’ acidity and freshness while extending the ripening period.

Winemaking and aging

A single small plot of the 2021 Secret Block Shiraz was harvested and destemmed into an open-top tank. Skin maceration lasted ten days with two to three pump-overs per day. After fermentation, the free-run and press juices were blended in tank and left to settle for 24 hours before being racked into barrels, where malolactic fermentation took place. Aging continued for eighteen months in barrels, 20% of which were new French oak, with the remainder in second- and third-fill barrels. This Australian wine was bottled in November with minimal fining and without filtration, under a Diam 30 closure.

Grape variety

100% shiraz