Recognition

2015 was a special vintage for me, the first back in the winery that I built as the Petaluma Winery now the Tapanappa Winery, since I resigned as Petaluma’s winemaker after the 2005 vintage. The first vintage in the fledgling …

Tapanappa in conjunction with The Wine Emporium and Lutèce Bistro are hosting a wine dinner in Brisbane on Tuesday 25th August. A great chance to see each of our single vineyard wines alongside French counterparts.

See attached flyer for more …

We have proudly thrown open the doors on our newly furbished cellar door at the Tapanappa Winery, set in the beautiful Tiers Vineyard only 20 minutes from the city.

This is the first time in its history the winery has …

Grapegrower & Winemaker invited four industry experts, including Xavier, to give their thoughts on the Australian wine’s current state of play. 

The full article can be read in the attached PDF.…

Curious things happen in vineyards as the season unfolds and almost none more curious than in lead-up the 2014 vintage. The apparently ideal conditions of the winter leading into the 2014 vintage unexpectedly threw up a miserable quantity of grapes …

This paper was presented by Brian at a conference in London, January 2014.

THE NOBLE HOUSE OF CARMENET.

INTRODUCTION

Carmenet is an old Medoc synonym for Cabernet Franc.

It is also the name given to the Bordeaux family of wine-grape …

As part of her Limestone Coast regional tour, Sarah Ahmed has produced a detailed article on the geology and associated wines of the Wrattonbully region, including a look at our unique Whalebone Vineyard. Read the full article here: http://www.thewinedetective.co.uk/blog/australia/the-limestone-coast-par…

As …

The following letter was published in WBM Magazine’s weekly newsletter on 29th, November 2013.

After a decade of being deliberately agnostic about the Australian wine community’s political processes, my frustration at the continuing bad news story that the Australian wine …

Flight of Ibises above the Cabernet Sauvignon Block in the Whalebone Vineyard…  

All the blocks in the Whalebone Vineyard look in balance.  Flowering has started in all varieties, and the weather in the next few weeks will be critical for …

This essay also appears on Jancis Robinson’s site at: http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201311012.html

Barring global financial accidents, geopolitical upheaval or an asteroid strike, 2014 should be a good business year propelled by the gathering momentum of the US economy, which should also tame …

The following article comes from Grapegrower & Winemaker, the original can be found here: http://grapegrowerandwinemaker.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/bizot-and-croser…

XAVIER BIZOT KNEW enough about corporate law that he knew he wanted to become a vigneron so he and his family packed their bags, bid …

The following article comes from the Naracoorte Herald, 26/09/2013

WRATTONBULLY was just one local wine region put under the microscope by the internationally renowned “Wine Detective” recently.

Sarah Ahmed stopped in at Wrattonbully on September 11 to cast her eye …

The following article by Eli Greenblat comes from The Age, 7/10/2013

Australian wine-making legend Brian Croser, founder of Petaluma, has attracted the big guns of champagne to his latest wine venture, with the scion of France’s famous Bollinger champagne house …

The following article by Patrick Schmitt appeared on Drinks Business, 20th September 2013.

Australia should shift its emphasis from the personalities behind the wines to the places where they come from in a bid to further the country’s fine wine

Foggy Hill was planted in 2003.

The 2013 vintage just finished was a wonderful way to celebrate the 10th birthday of this unique and lonely vineyard. Dry and warm by virtue of warmer than average nights, the compete description of …

2013 was a very warm and dry vintage.

2013 was also a wonderful vintage.

Despite near record warmth at all three of the Tapanappa terroirs, there were very few days above 35°C, no extended heat waves and it was night …

The following seminar was presented in London as part of a look at Chilean Cabernet.

Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon

This Global Exploration is a celebration of the great quality and diversity of the noble Cabernet Sauvignon.

It is also recognition of …

Nothing new under the Whalebone sun, we are probably 2 weeks away from the start of veraison, and those cabernet bunches just seem to be perfectly right, small berries, open bunches. The “vendange verte” (green harvest) in the Merlot was …

The resilience of the Whalebone Vineyard after 3 days of high 30s temperature is amazing. The Cabernet Sauvignon will be low yielding and vines look well balance with good bunch exposure. Some bunch thinning is required in the Merlot which …

Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are all through flowering now, looking great, long rachis, good fruit set. Temperature remained very cool in Wrattonbully as compared with long term average.  The vineyard is now on the long road to véraison …

Whalebone Vineyard

Visit of the Whalebone Vineyard on Thursday with Alex, our brand manager at Mentzendorff (UK distributor). Great photo of the Cabernet Franc – full bloom.

The Cabernet Sauvignon has not started flowering yet. All the vineyard was shoot …

The Tiers vineyard shoots have grown fast in the last week, and we think pre-flowering heavy rains on Monday night will be very beneficial. It is already time for wire lifting. Our resident Koala keeps an eye on things.

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Long drive to Wrattonbully to see perfectly sound Cabernet, Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines.  Very uniform growth across each variety. Time to clear the crown of undesired shoot growth.

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While not specifically Tapanappa news, it is nonethless very pleasing to see Brian’s lifelong commitment to Riesling honored by the Canberra International Riesling Challenge, awarding him the 2012 Wolf Blass Award for his contribution to the development and promotion of …