The Tiers Vineyard – owned by Ann Croser – is 31 years old and sits at 450 metres above sea level. Its highly prized crop of chardonnay is divided between Tapanappa and Petaluma. Tapanappa takes its portion of the crop from the section of the vineyard where the soil is at its thinnest and rockiest. In all cases this is clearly an exceptional – and historically important – Australian chardonnay vineyard.
The 2010 is characterised by three things: heavy oak, a super-tight profile, and a rocky, quartz-like finish/aftertaste. My initial reaction was ‘why all the oak’ but it was quickly replaced by ‘how amazing is that finish’. It’s a beautifully dry, long-flavoured wine with notes of grapefruit, yeast, green pear, toast and rock/slate/mineral/whatever-you-want-to-call-these-stoney-non-fruit-characters. It’s a very high quality wine.
Rated : 95 Points
Drink : 2015 – 2021
Original review: http://www.winefront.com.au/tapanappa-tiers-vineyard-chardonnay-2010/
