Aroma
The bouquet is very lifted and intense
apricot stone fruit and floral notes
giving the wine an alluring vibrancy.
Appearance
2023 Brave Faces displays a nice bright
cherry red hue in the glass.
Palate
The palate begins with a lean fruit profile, but it soon comes alive,
evolving and opening up beautifully. The fruit is juicy and sweet,
rolling deep into the finish, with notes of stone fruit alongside
darker berry and earthy undertones. The tannins are very fine, their
juicy nature making them caressing and very enjoyable. This wine,
year after year, consistently performs well at the table. Its naturally
lower acidity keeps the fruit bright and focused, while the soft
tannins offer a lovely mouth-watering sensation that dries the late
palate, preparing you perfectly for food. Another enjoyable vintage
of our Brave Faces, this wine will surely bring many smiles to those
who have the pleasure of savoring it.
Vinification
The three seperate fruit batches were de-stemmed and crushed to
open top fermenters. The Shiraz was pumped over three times daily,
where as the Grenache and Mourvèdre, after a few days cold soak,
were lightly plunged. Average time ‘on-skins’ was 6 days. Grenache
parcels were fermented with 20% whole bunches. All pressings were
added back to the free run. Some barrels had extended lees contact
through maturation. Aged for 6 months in a combination of new and
older French Oak puncheon and hogsheads.
Range Notes
What a difference a couple of
generations can make. In the mid 1980s
South Australia’s old Grenache vines
were being removed due to a lack of
demand. Brave Faces is a tribute to the
grape growers of Barossa Valley, who
fought against the vine-pull scheme in
the 1980s. The Men & Women who
loyally tended their vineyards, allowing
them to remain intact today.
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.
Vintage Notes
The 2023 season was challenging, we experienced a very
wet winter with a number of very humid days to match. Heat
summation over summer and sun daylight hours were going to
be much lower than we were normally used to, presenting us
with a much slower ripening curve. With wine we put the vintage
year on the label for a reason, to show what we can achieve in an
independent 12-month period, from pruning to wine in barrels. I
am thrilled with what our Two Hands team has achieved in such a
perplexing, challenging and interesting season.
