Winemaker Notes
Deep red with a bright red hue. Heightened nose of blackberry and pastilles, pink peppercorns, cured beef, dried violets and a lovely underlying current of coal dust, pipe smoke and graphite. Medium to full bodied, buoyant flavors, caress the palate and pop with both finesse and concentration. Bright blackberry, briar and violet notes are prominent with a creamy, lees character, giving an interesting textural component. Bright acid provides lift and energy whilst the tannin profile builds as it rolls across the length of the palate finishing with that chalky tannin, which provides a lovely savory tension. The late palate is punctuated with notes of wild herbs, violets, pipe smoke which rise and fall as the palate pulls through to an incredibly long finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of my favorites from Two Hands, the 2016 Shiraz Coach House Block Seppeltsfield Road Greenock marries rich blueberry and chocolate flavors with savory, meaty notes in a creamy whirl of complexity. This full-bodied wine is supple, velvety and long on the finish—everything you'd ever want in a Barossa Valley Shiraz.
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Wine Spectator
Rich and succulent, with gobs of chocolate-covered cherry and blackberry vanilla cobbler notes that melt into supple, polished tannins. Plenty of focus and generosity on the finish, where the flavors sail on and on. Drink now through 2030.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.