The Wine Advocate | RP 90
Published: Jul 11, 2024

The 2022 Sexy Beast Cabernet Sauvignon is inky and concentrated, dense and dark. The fruit is silky and smooth, not particularly leafy or detailed but good in a voluptuous kind of way. The finish closes with a little of arnica, aniseed and black pepper. It's warm and a little meaty, but it will please those deeply who pursue this kind of vibe in Cabernet. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink Date: 2024-2032

Twohandswines.com

2022 Sexy Beast Cabernet Sauvignon is concentrated purple with a red hue in the glass. Showcasing aromas of clove, asian spice, lavender, cola, roasted meats and black current.

This is text book Cabernet Sauvignon and highlights how well McLaren Vale is suited to growing it. We call it our Sexy Beast, inspired by the 2000 cult classic movie starring Sir Ben Kingsley & Ray Winstone.

Every wine in the Picture Series has its own inspiration, our own take on popular culture. With some old school polaroid imagery by friend and photographer Don Brice and a quirky back label descriptor, the aim is to bring a smile to your face when you pick up the bottle, reminding you that wines should be approachable and of course? fun.

TASTING NOTES WRITTEN BY TWO HANDS WINES PROPRIETOR MICHAEL TWELFTREE UPON RELEASE:
A nice wave of fruits enter your palate, this springs forth in layers and slowly caress the palate with moderately weighted dark fruits. 
I love the nerve and trapped energy presented here, on the late palate the fruits turns to have a stony edge and minerality which dries out the late palate. This is very easy to like Cabernet, and it show you the wonders of this varietal when it all comes together. I find this a very serious wine, and I love the tension and linear edge that it holds. I could only describe the tannins as driving, fruit filled and with a slight bitter edge. I really enjoy this ride and I can see that enjoyment finishing for quite a long time with cellaring. - MT

THE GROWING SEASON
After our second La Nina year I a row, the vineyards received an above average winter rainfall, we then progressed into a very mild spring and an equally mild summer with only one day recorded over 40oC. Due to slightly later flowering, the vines were set up to mature at a slower than usual pace, this put the start of vintage back around 3 weeks on average, these mild ripening conditions allowed for slower than usual favour development, this matched with lower yield across the board has resulted in another quality harvest. 

VINIFICATION
The parcels of fruit making up this wine were crushed into and fermented in open top vessels, with pump overs (three daily over peak fermentation) to extract colour, flavour and tannins. The batches were then drained and pressed to tank and then racked to barrel for oak maturation.