Two Hands Wines Gnarly Dudes Shiraz / 2024 / 375mL

Description:

The Two Hands Gnarly Dudes Shiraz 2024 is a deep, generous McLaren Vale Shiraz in a 375mL half bottle, built on dark berry fruit and a savoury peppery edge rather than sweetness alone. The small format makes it a wine for two people on a weeknight, or for one who wants a proper glass of Shiraz without opening a full bottle.

Blackberry and ripe plum lead the aromatics, with mulberry, dark chocolate and a lift of spice behind them, and a cool whisper of mint at the edges. The 2024 season brought low yields and early ripening, and it shows in the concentration of the fruit, which is plush but still lively rather than heavy.

The palate is full bodied and mouth-coating, with blackberry and boysenberry running through a frame of cracked pepper and charcuterie-like savouriness. Tannins are supple and fine grained, the acid keeps the middle moving, and the finish is long and warm without turning jammy. In the 375mL, that richness lands well across a single serve each.

Pour it with lamb cutlets off the grill, a beef and mushroom pie, chargrilled eggplant with yoghurt and dukkah, or a wedge of aged cheddar at the end of a meal. It also handles takeaway ribs and a barbecue-sauced burger better than most reds at this weight.

Drinking well now and over the next five to six years, with the fruit depth and tannin to stay balanced across that stretch.