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Two Hands 'Samantha's Garden' Shiraz Clare Valley 2014
RedAustralia2014
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2019-11-13 · Published 2026-09-09 · Updated 2026-09-09
At a glance
In one line
4.5/5 — higher than Vivino's 4.2 average · world avg price US$45 · Wine Advocate 93, Wine Spectator 93, Vivino 4.2.
Wine Advocate (Lisa Perrotti-Brown) 93 · Wine Spectator 93 · Vinous (Antonio Galloni) 92 · critic listed on Vivino 93 (Aug 2016)
Market note: The six Garden Series wines (Bella's, Lily's, Sophie's, Harry & Edward's, Max's, Samantha's) sell abroad in a similar US$50–70 band. Samantha's is the coolest site and the 'elegant' one of the set; Bella's Garden (Barossa) is the famous one, a regular in Wine Spectator's Top 100. Vivino vintage averages have barely moved from 4.1–4.3 since 2009.
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“Chocolate plum”
What I learned today: even after a bottle is empty, the color of that night stays on the end of its cork.
Wednesday, the big glass jar at the end of the counter was finally full. Master Seo has dropped a cork into it every time he opens a bottle. Since the day the bar opened, he said. Today was the day to move them into a new jar. Moving the corks a handful at a time, I looked at their ends one by one. White ones, ones stained pink, ones stained nearly black.
I brought a black-stained cork close to my nose. Chocolate, and ripe plum. In that moment my palm remembered first.
Late autumn when I was twenty-one, a Wednesday evening with cold rain drumming on the window. That night, every time Father opened a bottle, he set the cork on my palm. Smell it, he meant. As the glasses changed, the corks on my palm multiplied. The cork from a bottle that came late was stained deep purple at the end and smelled of chocolate and plum. I stood it at the front of the row. I don't know the bottle's name.
The notebook has just two words: "Chocolate plum." Four and a half stars. Exactly the smell that stayed on my palm. The bottle was Two Hands Samantha's Garden Shiraz. Master Seo told me about the name "two hands" and the gardens named after children. I stuck a wine-name Post-it into the notebook. Maybe that night, instead of the bottles' names, Father handed me their order in corks.
Master Seo let me drop the first cork into the new jar. What I learned today: even after a bottle is empty, the color of that night stays on the end of its cork.
What this wine is
Two Hands is a Barossa winery founded in 1999 by Michael Twelftree and Richard Mintz, who reportedly hatched the plan at a friend's engagement party; the first vintage, 2000, started with A$30,000 and 17 tonnes of fruit. Twelftree's contacts in the US and UK export markets built the brand, and the 'Garden Series', complete from the 2003 vintage, is what made Two Hands known worldwide. Bella's Garden (Barossa), Lily's Garden (McLaren Vale), Sophie's Garden (Padthaway), Harry & Edward's Garden (Langhorne Creek), Max's Garden (Heathcote) and Samantha's Garden (Clare Valley) — six regional Shirazes named after the founders' and partners' children, all made in the same cellar the same way, so that the only variable left is the place. Bella's Garden is said to have made Wine Spectator's Top 100 ten years running. Today Sophie's and Harry & Edward's have given way to Charlie's Garden (Eden Valley) and Harriet's Garden (Adelaide Hills).
Samantha's Garden comes from the coolest and highest of those sites: the Armagh and White Hut sub-regions of the Clare Valley, at 200–320 m, on grey silty loam and red-brown earth over limestone. Open-top fermentation with two pump-overs a day for about ten days, then 18 months in 2–6-year-old French oak hogsheads (15% new), bottled unfined and unfiltered. The producer's note on the 2014: "Dark core, magenta rim. Lovely red fruit dominated nose, intriguing and enticing with fresh earth, allspice and subtle hints of eucalypt. Dense and ripe yet manages to do so in an elegant, fine framework — juicy red fruits, spice and bitter chocolate. Slowly builds to a lovely ethereal finish, cloaked in fine tannins. A stunning vintage for Samantha's Garden."
What the world says
Lisa Perrotti-Brown of the Wine Advocate gave the 2014 93 points — "Deep garnet-purple. Full-bodied, rich and seductive in the mouth, it fills the palate with plush, velvety tannins." Wine Spectator also gave it 93, and Antonio Galloni at Vinous 92. Three publications clustered at 92–93: the critics do not disagree about this wine. Two Hands' own line for the series sums up the bottle's character: "an elegant style typical of the Clare Valley — bright, lively aromas, subtle fruit flavours and fine-grained tannins."
The Vivino community of 200 averages 4.2, with 86% at 4 or above and not a single 1-star rating. The keywords run blackberry, plum and blueberry; chocolate, oak, tobacco and vanilla; then eucalyptus (35 mentions) and pepper (28). Eucalyptus topping the spice group is this wine's fingerprint — the minty scent that eucalyptus trees leave on South Australian vineyards, and one that turns up far less often in reviews of the Barossa Bella's Garden. Structure: intensity 4.8/5, tannin 3.2, acidity 3.1, sweetness 2.3.
"Black fruits, tobacco with hints of eucalyptus on the nose. Black fruits, plum, oak and black pepper on the palate. Excellent wine. 93–94 pts." — Vivino review, Feb 2020, 4.5 stars
"This great Aussie Shiraz comes from a Clare Valley vineyard and spent 18 months in second-fill French oak. Nearly black, with red fruits and floral notes, including a subtle and attractive eucalypt touch." — Vivino review, Feb 2022, 4.5 stars
"Decant! Then drink. This wine needs to open... awesome if you are patient." — Vivino review, Jul 2019, 4.5 stars
How I drank it
November 13, 2019, 4.5 stars. The note is two words: "Chocolate plum."
I logged sixteen bottles that day, five of them at 4.5: Almaviva, Veuve Clicquot, Alta Vista Serenade, Charles Dauteuil, and this Samantha's Garden. Two Hands appears twice more: the Angels' Share Shiraz 2021 got 3 on April 15, 2024, and the Coach House Block Shiraz 2020 got 4.5 on January 9, 2025. There is no re-tasting of Samantha's Garden on record.
My 4.5 is 0.3 above the community's 4.2, and the critic numbers are Wine Advocate 93, Wine Spectator 93 and Vinous 92. My two words overlap with the community's top keywords, plum (45 mentions) and chocolate (33); eucalyptus, mentioned 35 times, is absent from my note. The drinking window runs to 2028.
Vivino community data
2014 vintage rating distribution (200 ratings, average 4.2)
| 5★ | 23 (12%) | |
| 4★ | 149 (74%) | |
| 3★ | 27 (14%) | |
| 2★ | 1 (0%) | |
| 1★ | 0 (0%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Black fruit | 179 | blackberry 46 · plum 45 · blueberry 20 · blackcurrant 17 |
| Oak | 133 | chocolate 33 · oak 26 · tobacco 21 · vanilla 19 · clove 14 |
| Spice | 100 | eucalyptus 35 · pepper 28 · licorice 12 · mint 5 |
| Earth & leather | 35 | earth 10 · leather 9 · smoke 5 |
| Red fruit | 28 | cherry 11 · raspberry 4 · wild strawberry 4 |
| Dried fruit | 18 | prune 10 · raisin 6 |
| Floral | 9 | violet 6 |
Structure: Acidity 3.1/5 · Intensity 4.8/5 · Tannin 3.2/5 · Sweetness 2.3/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 1519 ratings, average 4.2)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 4.2 | 73 |
| 2010 | 4.2 | 45 |
| 2012 | 4.1 | 145 |
| 2013 | 4.3 | 105 |
| 2014 | 4.2 | 200 |
| 2015 | 4.1 | 63 |
| 2016 | 4.2 | 269 |
| 2017 | 4.1 | 129 |
| 2018 | 4.1 | 80 |
| 2019 | 4.3 | 95 |
| 2020 | 4.2 | 75 |
| 2021 | 4.1 | 50 |
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Two Hands Samantha's Garden?
A full-bodied 100% Shiraz from Australia's Clare Valley. It is the coolest-climate bottle of Two Hands' 'Garden Series', in which Shiraz from six Australian regions is made identically; aged 18 months in French oak (15% new) and bottled unfiltered. The 2014 scored Wine Advocate 93, Wine Spectator 93 and Vivino 4.2. Blackberry, plum and chocolate with a signature eucalyptus and pepper edge.
How do the six Garden Series wines differ?
Bella's (Barossa), Lily's (McLaren Vale), Sophie's (Padthaway), Harry & Edward's (Langhorne Creek), Max's (Heathcote) and Samantha's (Clare Valley) — same winemaking, different region. Bella's is the densest and most famous (a Wine Spectator Top 100 regular); Samantha's, from the coolest site, is the elegant one, with spice and eucalyptus to the fore. The current line-up has swapped Sophie's and Harry & Edward's for Charlie's (Eden Valley) and Harriet's (Adelaide Hills).
How much does it cost?
Overseas retail is around US$45–60. The six Garden Series wines all sit in much the same band, and the 2014 is now hard to find on the market.
What food goes with it?
Vivino suggests beef, lamb and game such as venison. At around 14.5% alcohol and 4.8/5 intensity it wants grilled lamb chops, a striploin steak or smoked barbecue. Reviews keep repeating 'decant', so give it an hour open and serve at 16–18°C. Suggested drinking window: 2016–2028.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Two Hands Wines — Samantha's Garden technical sheet (sub-regions, soils, oak)
- Millesima USA — 2014 Samantha's Garden critic scores (WA 93, WS 93, Vinous 92)
- Lambier Wines — Wine Advocate (Perrotti-Brown) 93-point note
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Italy · Lombardy★½☆☆☆Tasted the same dayKendall-Jackson, Vintner's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
United States · Sonoma★★★★☆Tasted the same day1865 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Leyda Valley 2015
Chile★★★★☆Same producerMollydooker Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz 2018
Australia · South Australia★★★★★Same producerNuala Sauvignon Blanc 2019
New Zealand · Marlborough★★★★☆Same producer