Recognition

The 2021 Tapanappa Cabernet Merlot Franc blend is an unusual expression from the vineyard, due to the low-yielding vintage. There is a seamless display of opulent Cabernet Sauvignon aromas with layers of black olive, graphite and spice from the other …

Perfumed and savoury, with aromas of plums, blackberries, bitter chocolate, mahogany, liquorice, violets and potpourri. The palate is mid-weighted with fine-grained tannins, a textural mouthfeel and complex dark fruit, spices, earth and dried herbs. A blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, …

Deep garnet with a soft velvet rim. Aromas complex and calm: rose petals, drinking cocoa and cassis with blueberries and raspberries, blood plum, new leather, cedar, a small amount of rosemary (leaf and flower), a touch of vanilla, graphite and …

Bright red and youthful in the glass. Lifted and complex aromas of blackberry, Asian spice, nutmeggy oak, bramble, mulberry, dark cherry and pipe tobacco. Firm, structured, mouth-filling and generously flavoured. The tannins are firm and bring plenty of grip and …

What a stunning wine this is. It is made from fruit grown on the now 51-year-old Whalebone Vineyard on the Limestone Coast that was identified decades ago by wine industry veteran Brian Croser as “a distinguished site” capable of producing …

The ripe blackcurrant and mulberry aromatics carry a hint of leaf and subtle oak. An impressively long palate carries the fine, savoury tannins with ease. Cellar ten years at least.…

This Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernets Merlot Franc 2021 is a slightly different blend to the 2015 that it was tasted alongside. What a treat it was to capture the past alongside the current release. This is an excellent wine – …

A blend of 53/16/16/15% Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc/Shiraz. Matured in 50% new French barriques for 18 months. A wine that is as vivid as the imagery of the whale skeleton found buried beneath the vineyard. Fresh figs, boysenberry and Chinese bayberry. …

2021 was a cracking vintage in the Wrattonbully region – the home of this famous vineyard. The blend is 53.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc and 14.5% Shiraz. Each variety was treated discreetly, seeing eighteen months maturation in …

This wine is a product of a very cool vintage in Wrattonbully, which in many ways suits the style of wines that Brian Croser is making. It’s a combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, which makes up more than half the blend, …

Dark ruby with a purple hue and a seductive nose of violets, potpourri, black plum, roasted fig, cherry, mixed red and black berries, tobacco, tapenade, roasted peppers, eucalyptus and sweet garrigue.

In the mouth it’s effortless, finely structured, impeccably balanced …

For those with long memories, the rise of the Wrattonbully wine region will come as a sweet postscript to one of the biggest legal battles over regional boundaries ever fought in this country concentrating on Coonawarra. At the centre of …

Confusingly, this new, limited-edition model from the Croser stable is from Mount Barker SA, not the more common Mt Barker WA. Regardless it’s amazingly fragrant and exceptionally easy to drink despite its nearly 15 per cent. 9.5/10.…

The 2021 B & V Syrah leads with fenugreek and arnica, cassis, blackcurrant and raspberry seed. Once the wine is moving in the glass, it really opens up beautifully. On the palate, the wine is succulent and polished, with plenty …

This is a site not owned by Tapanappa but kindred to the motif of high quality vineyards within Tapanappa’s stable. This is beautiful and distinctly ‘syrah’ in its medium weight, silky tannins, huge perfume and gentle, savoury elements. It smells …

Youthful purple in the glass, vivid and bright. Evocative and lifted aromas of blueberry, dried herbs, sarsaparilla, nutmeg, violets and Asian spice. Fleshy, blue fruit driven, textured and mouth-filling. There’s a very pure drive of fragrant, opulent and bright fruit …

This expressive and lively 2021 Mount Barker Shiraz is delightfully savoury with its reservedd layers of new leather and dark earth over a core of mulberry and blackberry, punctuated by fine French oak. Good precision and tension and, while a …

An Australian Syrah that actually lives up to the name, with a heart of bright spice, bursting in aromatic red and black berries and boasting a lightness of touch. How is this possible in a wine that is 14.9% alcohol? …

Tapanappa Adelaide Hills B&V Vineyard Syrah 2021, $60.

Confusingly, this new, limited-edition model from the Croser stable is from Mount Barker SA, not the more common Mt Barker WA. Regardless it’s amazingly fragrant and exceptionally easy to drink despite its …

Brian Croser’s flagship pinot noir comes from just 10 rows of Dijon clones – 777 and 115 – planted in the Foggy Hill Vineyard on the Fleurieu Peninsula. The name might sound a bit like a spell from Harry Potter, …

On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the Foggy Hill vineyard, winemaker Brian Croser – accompanied by wife Ann – embarked on a series of tasting and dinners to celebrate this milestone.

Whilst the Definitus wasn’t …

Sassafras, bing cherry, licorice root and orange balm. Filigreed tannins and a diaphanous weave of freshness and pungency, with a moreish core of porcini dashi. Yet the end result is a lighter weighted pinot in an Australian context. Refreshing enough, …

This expressive wine displays impressive purity of fruit with excellent volume of dark cherry, dried herbs and terracotta aromas which are still tightly coiled and building. Quite structural in style with flavours of red earth and ironstone topped by a …