I have been meaning to try Two Hands for a long time. Bella's garden in particular has had excellent reviews and has been rated in the 93+ range. Of course, with such a high rating and such rave reviews the price tag is a bit high. $75 to be exact. I knew the wine was excellent, but I wasn't so sure my family did. So I decided to purchase the wine and not mention to my family that the wine was anything special. After all, it's my dad who is known as the wine expert and the person who is willing to spend more money on wine for a special occasion.
Since we were having turkey, my dad selected a modest white wine, quite unexpected of him because he is known to love expensive red wine, and I brought my bottle of Two Hands.
I guess the reason I wanted to do the experiment was that I wanted to see if everyone would recognize that the red wine was superior even if I didn't tell them that it was. Also, because I was the one who purchased the red wine, would they think immediately that my wine was inferior to the wine my dad brought?
The results were mixed. I got the definitive answer to one of my questions, but not to the other.
Only three of the ten people present (including me) tried my wine. Whether because they thought that my dad had brought a superior wine, or because white wine goes better with turkey, I cant be certain. Although, Kevan and Judy have been known to drink red wine with anything so I am inclined to think the former. I was disappointed that the true red wine drinkers didn't try Two Hands. My wife, and her sister were the only other two people that have a full glass. They didn't have much to say about it, which was also disappointing. My dad did get to try a small amount that was left in the bottle to which he replied, "that is very good".
So as a result, I was unable to determine if they would be able to taste a superior wine, but I now know that if my dad brings the wine, they will certainly go for that over something I would bring. Not to sound depressed about it, but it was a bit of a bummer nonetheless.
Ok, so after explaining my experiment, finally we can get to the review of Bella's garden.
I have found that wines of this caliber tend to be very complex. I mentioned in a previous post that the Cat Among the Pigeons red was one dimensional, Two Hands is the contrary. This complexity, the subtle balance between spice, oak, fruit, and tannins, is the exact reason that this bottle demands $75, instead of $19.99. A lot of the more expensive bottles I have tried were very complex, but complex in their own way. Some balance between fruit and oak, or fruit and spice. This one in particular was a blend of spice and oak. Not much fruit at all. The wine was quite acidic which gave it a slightly tart taste which might be confused as fruit. Maybe some subtle hints of berries. If I had one word to describe the flavor of the wine it would be vibrant. All of the flavors were very vibrant. Bright and very clearly taste. This is not a subtle wine overall. It would be good with the usual shiraz fair-steak and potatoes, something rich and heavy.
For the person who is wanting to go deeper into tasting a good wine, I would highly recommend it. This is not a wine for the average wine drinker. Too expensive and to complex for the inexperienced tongue.
I enjoyed it quite a bit, if only my family had given it a proper try...
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