Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2010
Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Fleurieu Peninsula Pinot Noir 2010
In 2001 Lion Nathan acquired Petaluma (founded in 1976 by Brian Croser). But Croser retained control of the Tiers vineyard, a key source of Petaluma chardonnay. The wine lives on under the Tapanappa label, a joint venture of the Croser family and French families behind Chateau Lynch-Bages and Bollinger Champagne. The finely structured wine delivers juicy, full, ripe-peach varietal flavours, combined with the nutty, spicy characters of fermentation and maturation in oak barrels. I rate Tapanappa’s ripe, fine-boned 2010 pinot noir as the best yet from this new vineyard, planted by Croser in 2003 – inspired by the very cool maritime climate.
