Recognition

The second release of the Definitus, sourced from a specific block within the Foggy Hill Northwestern slope. Here in the warmer vintage we see the aging potential of this unique bottling. Boysenberries, ironstone, cured meats and five spice. A potent …

There are very few Australian Pinot releases where you crack a bottle open and think, ‘This needs six years’. It just doesn’t happen. Bindi, maybe, some of the structured Yarra Pinot releases (Mount Mary sometimes), Bannockburn, By Farr, Domaine A. …

The 2018 Definitus Pinot Noir Foggy Hill is darker in the glass than the Foggy Hill Pinot tasted beside it, and this wine enters with a rich cascade of cherry and woodsy spice, forest underbrush/sous bois, aged leather and old …

Medium-full red/brick-red colour; the bouquet is mellow, complex and loaded with charred roast-meat, dried mushroom and sousbois characters, earthy/dried-herb and leather nuances, traces of tobacco as well. The structure is firm and the tannins provide backbone and extend the length …

Sometimes, the early sell out of a wine is actually good news for drinkers. Take the Definitis ’21 Pinot Noir which quickly sold out leaving the door open for Tapanappa owner/ winemaker, Brian Croser, to dig deep into the cellar …

The 2021 vintage of Definitus sold out so quickly that the team decided to release a little of their museum stocks of the 2018 alongside the 2023 Foggy Hill. Given only 430 dozen were made in the first place, you …

This is a re-release of this wine from the excellent 2018 vintage. This was the second release of this wine which comes from a special and defined part of the vineyard. It’s an immensely powerful no-holds-barred Pinot loaded with blue …

This multi-layered 2018 Pinot Noir is in excellent condition at 6 years of age as it radiates with cherry pit, and dark earth are topped by gamey, spicy aged tones. Vibrant and energetic with ample gravel /iron stone with a …

South Australia’s wine story includes many well-worn tales of adventures into the unknown, maddening enterprise and celebrated family sagas. But then there are the more secret histories, which live on today in wines that reflect their colourful stories. Here, we …

This more generous vintage of Tapanappa Shiraz from 2018 delivers layers of dark cherry, fennel seed and cocoa aromas with fine oak well integrated. There is an excellent mix of power and subtlety to follow, flavours of fruit pastille and …

It’s wonderfully complex and inviting on the nose with dark plum, olive, mixed spice and toasted
almond characters, followed by a richly expressed palate offering excellent weight backed by
silken texture and finely infused chalky tannins. Beautifully styled with classic …

Ultimately, this Tapanappa Whalebone Merlot Cabernet Franc 2018 is too firm and ripe to be great. But maybe, just maybe, it’s too young by half and I’m going to look like an idiot when it’s a blinder next decade. Try …

Medium deep crimson. Chinotto, plum vanilla, roasted chestnut aromas with herb garden notes. Evolved dark plum, mulberry flavours, fine loose knit grainy, hint leafy tannins well-balanced mocha roasted chestnut marzipan oak notes and well balanced fresh acidity. Finishes claret firm …

Medium deep crimson. Lovely intense blackcurrant, blackberry, hint chinotto aromas with vanilla, marzipan, roasted chestnut notes. Grainy textured and velvety with lovely inky blackcurrant, mulberry fruits, cedary textures and underlying vanilla/ marzipan notes. Finishes slinky firm and minerally. Very good …

Too much. That’s the challenge with both the latest Tapanappa Whalebone reds. This is a bit easier than the Merlot Cab, but still heavy-going, despite the obvious quality.From a warm, dry Wrattonbully vintage (Heat summation of 1799 degree days vs …

Deep, dark and inky in the glass. Lifted aromas of mulberry, blackcurrant, bramble, tobacco, menthol and oak. Rich, dark fruit and oaky on the palate, there’s a lush core of brooding mulberry fruit, plum, cola and firm granular tannins. Powerful, …

Here’s a mature wine – ready to enjoy right now – that is also a current release from Brian Croser’s excellent Tapanappa stable of wines. Fresh and juicy, but also stylish and sophisticated, it is a blend of Australia’s two …

Aromas of red and black currants, black cherries, rosemary stem and thyme. Medium- to full-bodied with silky, chewy tannins. Nicely defined red and black fruit on the palate. Fresh and articulate with a juicy finish. Drink or hold.

93 points…

Bright and youthful in the glass. Complex aromas of cedar, tobacco, blackcurrant, dark cherry, bramble aA whale-sized price-tag, but given energy inflation, in time it will be less than a KW of electricity. At any time it is positively lovely …

Bright and youthful in the glass. Complex aromas of cedar, tobacco, blackcurrant, dark cherry, bramble and spice. Lovely, pure and precise on the palate, mid to full-bodied, long, layered and complex. Plenty of red and dark fruits, textured tannins, cedar …

Deep coloured, this is a decadent yet complex Merlot blend with lashings of rich blackberry, chocolate, cedar, black olive and earthy aromas wrapped up in a blanket of high quality French oak. It’s bold too, with impressive impact of sweet …

This a spectacular Aussie claret style; poised, focused and built for the long haul with its powerful blackberry, chocolate, blackcurrant, gravel aromas that are muscular and dense. Fantastic volume of fruit follows but all kept in check by layers of …

65/35% merlot/cabernet franc. Matured 18 months in French oak barriques (50% new). A warm year and a generous expression of fruit which sets the scene for some enjoyable drinking. Redcurrant, black cherry, fennel seed, red licorice, raspberry and pepper work …

86/14% cabernet sauvignon/shiraz. Matured 18 months in French oak barriques (50% new). The 2018 vintage was the second warmest on record after 2016. A ripe year has undoubtedly imparted more warmth and roundness to this wine, but it remains resolutely …