VITICULTURE
WINTER 2023
Winter 2023 was a busy time in our vineyards as it is the time of year where the hard work of our Viticulture Manager Peter and his team sets up the next growing season. Early Winter is the perfect time to prune whilst the vines are fully dormant.. Cane Pruning – or the Guyot Method, was developed over 100 hundred years ago by Dr. Jules Guyot and it ensures good aeration and excellent foliage exposure. This is a ‘renewal’ training system, where the fruiting side-branches (arms) are pruned out every winter, and new ones are trained horizontally to replace them and carry the coming summer’s crop. This technique is also known as “arched cane pruning”.
Tying canes flat to the fruiting wire does little to balance the vigour (growth) of buds along the cane, but arching them can help reduce apical dominance (the phenomenon whereby the main, central stem of the plant is dominant over other side stems), promote more even sap distribution and improve the evenness of bud burst along its length, The purpose of Guyot pruning is ultimately to emphasise the plant’s potential and obtain the best possible fruit to make the best possible wine.
SPRING 2023
Soil management is a very important area of viticulture and ultimately winemaking that many may not even think about. In order to make great wine, you must have healthy and productive vines that produce fruit of the high caliber we are looking for at Two Hands. With that in mind, our Viticulture Manager Peter & his team have implemented a soil management plan, that compliments the other viticultural practices we use, to improve soil composition, vine health and ultimately higher quality fruit.
We’ve sown selected species of perennial Medics or Burclover between the vine rows. Once established, few other legumes outperform medics in soil-saving, soil-building and—in some systems—forage, when summer rainfall is less than 15 inches. They serve well in seasonally dry areas such as the Barossa. With more rainfall, however, they can produce almost as much biomass and Nitrogen as clovers. These plants take nitrogen out of the air, store it in their roots, and when the plant dies, that nitrogen is available to feed the biology and other plants over the next year. It’s an annual, and natural, slow release fertiliser.We use our own compost made with grape marc and the manure from Brutus and our fold of Scottish Highlanders.
This organics rich compost is spread throughout the vineyard to further build healthy soils and improve the quality of fruit our vines produce each year. We also apply mulch under vine using wheaten straw to help keep the vine roots cool and moist and lock in that important winter rainfall for the dry summer to come.
SUMMER 2024
Vintage 2024 will be remembered as one of deceptively slow ripening. Although the spring had some warm days, no heat events were experienced for the season with only three 40 degree days through the growing season. It was unusually cool, dry, and mild. The growing season was drier and cooler than average with only 176mm of rain falling in the Barossa between September 2023 and April 2024. The season started with some heavy frosts in mid-September that coincided with bud burst and impacted many vineyards across both Barossa and Eden Valley.
The cold weather lasted well into November and affected flowering in Shiraz, but not Cabernet, Grenache & Mataro, which all flowered during a favourable warm spell late in November. Grape flowers, or “flowering” arrive in late spring, 40-80 days after bud burst depending on the rain and temperature. Low temperatures can freeze the flowers or a heavy rain can wash them off. With only a few hot days over summer, the temperatures were well below average and the very cool nights in Jan-Feb which were regularly in single digits for the Eden Valley.
This allowed for retention of berry acids and a moderately slow ripening period. A 5-day period in March saw night temperatures remain above 27 degrees. This warm period had a big effect on berry weights and amounted to approximately 30% berry weight reduction in the Barossa just prior to harvest. When berries are soft and nearly ripe, the cool night temperatures are critical to retaining berry acid and weight. With the short warm spell over, we entered a compressed vintage that tailed off to late April in the Eden Valley.
“The 2024 season was one that rewarded patience. With an atypical season seeing few days over 35C until the heatwave in early March, this was a year similar to 2021 except it was much drier. As March began the fruit was slowly ripening but the flavours we desired had not fully developed. We had to hold our nerve during the hot week, knowing volumes would be affected but the end result would be worthwhile. There will be some great wines produced from this year” RL
HARVEST BEGINS
VINTAGE 2024
Vintage started with a flurry on March 4th with Riesling from Eden Valley, and a small parcel of Grenache for our Trusty Rusty Rosé from Barossa, as well as our first Shiraz from Barossa & McLaren Vale sites.
Within the first 5 days we had crushed 20% of the vintage total. By mid-March we were picking the later ripening Grenache & Cabernet from Barossa & McLaren Vale, Clare Valley Shiraz was finished, and we had harvested Waterfall Gully Shiraz a full 6 weeks earlier than in 2023.
We hit 80% of our intake by the end of March and had all but finished by the 9th of April with only Eden Valley Grenache & Mataro left, which were harvested on April 29th. The results of a cool dry vintage show lots of elegance and great poise, with wines showing vibrancy and balance. Whilst volumes were down significantly due to the seasonal conditions, the wines are smashing. Barossa Shiraz is showing well with tasting notes such as “dark chocolate & stone fruits with spicy tannins, rich and powerful on the palate” and “Blue fruits & tapenade with mouth-watering, talcy tannins that are rich, full, and long”
Eden Valley shows typical hints of winter green and rich tannins that are soft and supple. A range of vineyard aspects has resulted in some wines showing soft plush raspberry & blackberry fruit through to others having masses of tannins with mint, dark chocolate & black fruit.
McLaren Vale had an unusually late start to vintage due to persistent rainfall over the Christmas period. The summer rainfall ensured berry size was larger than normal and crop size was large also. Vintage started March 5th and was about 2 weeks later than average. Fruit ripened in moderate, cool conditions allowing the fruit to remain on the vine for extended ripening.
Shiraz from across our McLaren growers shows lots of primary red fruits, lifted esters & supple tannins. The Cabernet Sauvignon was the last variety to be delivered with our Clarendon fruit coming in on April 9th and was the highlight of the region with lots of cassis, berry fruit, typical leafy tobacco and bell peppers with mouthwatering tannins.
Clare Valley experienced a dry and short vintage. Frost was severe in places and adversely effected yields, particularly Shiraz. Low yields mean high quality in red grapes and our Clare Shiraz for Samantha’s Garden & Fields of Joy has plenty of intensity and flavour showing great jammy, dense fruits and hints of eucalypt.
SUMMARY
Vintage 2024 will be remembered for its slow and steady ripening, driven by an unusually cool and dry growing season. With only a few brief hot spells, the harvest began early and wrapped up by April, resulting in wines that are marked by elegance and balance.
The cooler conditions allowed for vibrant, well-structured wines across regions, including expressive Shiraz from Barossa and Clare Valley, standout Cabernet from McLaren Vale, and nuanced Grenache from Eden Valley. Despite lower yields due to frost and reduced berry weights, the vintage delivered a collection of wines with notable poise and complexity.
