The 2020 Ares Shiraz is matured in French oak (25% new, larger format) and is a blend of vineyards from the western ranges—Holy Grail, Coach House (both Seppeltsfield), Stonewall and Ebenezer. The wine spends 15-20 days on the skins and is blended in July the year following the vintage. This is a powerful wine, but it is restrained, too. At this stage, it is coiled and compressed, and I believe it will open beautifully over the following 24 hours or, of course, time in the cellar, if you can manage that. The tannins are open-weave and savory, and the fruit that resides within their confines speaks of blood plums, mulberry, blackberry, star anise and dark chocolate. It has a pure core of fruit that is attractive. It's interesting to me that Two Hands focuses on single-vineyard, regional expressions of Shiraz. Here, we have a wine sourced from many different places, and what it gains here in its polish, it loses in "character." It is a clear expression of Barossa Shiraz, no question, but it doesn't have the definition of the Yacca Block (Mangler's Hill, Eden Valley), for example. Six of one, and half a dozen of the other, as they say. This Ares champions the variety, while the Yacca champions the vineyard. Your call. This is a lovely wine, powerful and long. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam.

This 2019 Ares Shiraz is firm and savory and shaped by a pliable rachis of tannin and spice. The fruit strays across blood plums, mulberries, damsons and licorice and leaves a trail of star anise and aniseed its wake. The tannins are very prominent and have a traditional feel, Decant it.

Features Black Forest cake, fresh raspberry coulis and Earl Grey tea flavors that are rich and generous, with a velvety, juicy frame. Complex and bold, showing details of cardamom, salted caramel, cigar box and dried sage that linger on a long, expressive finish. Drink now through 2043. 150 cases imported.??–MW??Region: Australia / Barossa / Barossa Valley Select to Add

The mulberry and vanilla-scented 2017 Ares Shiraz is a full-bodied Barossa Shiraz, with sufficient structure to support at least 15 years of aging. Dark purple and saturated in color, it shows some faint herbal nuances as well—enough to keep the fruit from being monolithic or boring, not enough to be a distraction. The tannins are rich and ripe, imparting a velvety texture on the palate and lingering as a soft dustiness on the long finish.