The Wine Advocate | RP 97
Published: Aug 24, 2023
Drink: 2021-2036

The 2021 Secret Block Wildlife Road Moppa Hills Shiraz is concentrated and delicious. It is full of flavor, full of tannin and totally harmonious in its dialed-up volume of both. This is an excellent, superb wine. It's my favorite in this 2021 release. 14.3% alcohol, sealed under Diam.

Twohandswines.com

Sourced from a small mature vineyard high in the Barossa Western Ranges, this wine displays an amazing aromatic profile, soft mouth-feel with wonderful structure and very silky tannins.

Secret by name, and secret by nature, this magical vineyard hides behind multiple locked gates and windy trails, nestled away with some of the regions best vineyards. Along with picturesque views of the Barossa and Eden Valley, this vineyard offers high quality fruit that has always shone, even through the most difficult of vintages.

Our Single Vineyard Series wines are magical expressions of unique sites that reveal the diversity of varietal and origin.

TASTING NOTES:
Written by Two Hands Proprietor Michael Twelftree upon release in 2023
COLOUR: Deep layered purple to black 
AROMA: The lovely flora notes of mint, dried herb, eucalypt, violets, lavender, milk chocolate, cola, musk and fresh black berry preserve appear from the glass. The aromas are very pretty, defined and gentle.
PALATE: The fruit is rich, powerful and brooding. This hits the palate very evenly and then flows across the tongue. Deep fruit flavours of dark plum, blackcurrant and liquorice drive the core of the fruits. The wine flows very evenly with a pure, soft and
caressing presence. The tannins slowly emerge and then take over with a lovely ferocious texture that makes this wine feel a little strict, even a little old world in style. This wine is a joy from start to finish, and has just so much personality. A wine that
makes you think, and really draws you in. The elegant nature holds so much interest, evolving slowly with all the components being well balanced, Barossa Valley shiraz with manners, hear, hear!

WINEMAKING
One small parcel from this single block was crushed and destemmed into a single 5-tonne open top fermenter. The time spent on skins was 10 days with 2-3 pump overs daily. All free run and pressings were combined in tank and after 24 hours the
wine was then racked off gross lees to barrel, where malolactic fermentation occurred. The wine was bottled with minimum fining and no filtration.
MATURATION: 18 months in 20% new French oak and 2/3 year old hogsheads. Bottled in November the following vintage.

THE SINGLE VINEYARD SERIES
We’ve been strong proponents of regionality since the early days at Two Hands, showcasing how different the Shiraz grape can be through the six wines and six regions of the Garden Series, but through the Single Vineyard Series we’re taking regionality to the next level.
“The world has so many vineyards but so few have the X-factor, these are great sites that come to the fore each vintage.” Michael Twelftree

SUB-REGION: Moppa Hills
VINE AGE: 20 years
ALTITUDE: 335m
AVERAGE RAINFALL: 450mm
SOIL TYPE: Deep grey-red loam containing coarse quartz and ironstone gravel over clay