The idea for Two Hands was born in September 1999 when founders Michael Twelftree and Richard Mintz sat at a friend’s engagement party and decided it was time to make their own wine and market it on the world stage. The original aim was, and still is, to make the best possible Shiraz-based wines from prized growing regions throughout Australia.

By the end of 2004 a state-of-the-art winery was built on the Western Ranges of the Barossa Valley. To maximise the individual regional and varietal characteristics and to allow for greater quality control, every parcel of fruit, no matter how small, could be handled separately from crushing through to fermentation and oak maturation. Since their very first vintage, they have endeavoured to produce wines that truly reflect regionality, meaning that they show the characteristics that they associate with the regions from where the fruit was sourced. With the motto ‘quality without compromise’ central to the Two Hands philosophy, their wines are selected through a process of barrel classification.

The ‘Holy Grail’ vineyard, is a viticulturist’s dream: 15 acres of 18 year old Shiraz, adjoining the existing 70 acre block which was ready for planting in 2016. With its rich red-brown earth, strong clonal selection, and eastern sloping aspect. With a vast array of soil depths and types through the site, careful consideration has been placed on selecting a diversified range of Shiraz clones to optimise viticultural development across the property.