Recognition

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.…

Pale and crystal bright lemon hue. Dried papaya, grapefruit pith and yellow floral aromatics. Good intensity of lime fruit, hints of tropical lift and a seaspray minerality. There’s a textural element that suggests sweetness but the ample acidity and astutely …

The punchy, youthful single-vineyard 2024 Chardonnay 1.5M is sure to impress with its combination of raw power and subtlety. Waves of peach skin and nectarine aromas are complemented by white flowers and a creamy cashew nut complexity. Compact and surprisingly …

The more sophisticated and reserved 2024 Chardonnay Tiers is a little shy and tightly coiled right now, offering up pristine aromas of melon and pear topped by fine oatmeal tones and spicy oak, with just a touch of smoky reduction. …

What a sheer privilege it was to taste this Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard blend 2015 alongside the new 2021 release. Brian Croser is releasing a small quantity of the 2015s and its pure class is obvious. Better still, what a thrilling …

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. …

Brian Croser has made the decision to re-release this wine from what was a coolish vintage, not dissimilar to the 2021. It’s a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. And even after 10 years, it’s bright with energy and life …

As always, the opportunity to source a wine already matured by the producers is an opportunity which should not be ignored. This is a blend of 69% Merlot and 31% Cabernet Franc, each variety made separately before the final step …

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 …

The decision to re-release the 2015 red blend is deliberate. The year, a cool vintage, is intended as a comparison with the new release 2021 Whalebone Vineyard red blend, also from a cool year. The comparisons are there (minus, of …

Here we have the pinnacle Chardonnay release from the first vineyard planted in the Piccadilly Valley since the 19th century. Restrained power is the term that comes to mind here. It’s tight and focussed, yielding enough aromatic presence to get …

Named on account of the 1.5 metre spacing between vine rows. Fresh, tightly wound and elegant aromas of white peach and cedar kick things off, followed by green apple, Meyer lemon, peach blossom, nectarine pulp and cinnamon. There’s a taut …

High quality cedar oak sits confidently here, melding with fresh cut nectarine, quince, peach skin, kumquat and red apple with some savoury cashew cream beneath. There’s a lot of impact aromatically thanks to good concentration and balance. The palate is …

The original Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay planted in 1979 in the Piccadilly Valley was the first Adelaide Hills vineyard to unknown clones. 2024, though slightly warmer, was yet another cooler vintage in the run since 2020. Modest cropping of 4 tonnes …

2024, though slightly warmer continued a run of cool vintages. French oak barriques (1/3 new) for fermentation (2 months through Autumn). Barrel aged on full lees until October 2024, before racking off and then a November bottling.

Pale lemon colour …

The Piccadilly Valley is ‘entry’ level for this exquisite range of Chardonnay. 2024 another cool vintage like the 4 before it, but marginally warmer with a modest crop of 4 tonnes per hectare on the 30 year old vines.

Medium-light …

Quite a bold and brassy chardonnay defined with spicy, cedary oak over peach and nectarine, red apple, grapefruit and banana notes, with touches of toffee apple in there, too. The richness feels apt and balanced, though one could suggest that …

Fruit is picked from a close-planted block that was planted in ’03. This is wonderful chardonnay – all finesse, tension, filigreed minerality, light, savoury undertones and pristine, bright green pear, nectarine and pink grapefruit freshness. Touches of nougat, sea spray …

From the first Croser vineyard, planted ’79. A potent and rich chardonnay of distinguished power and presence. It’s set at a riper pace but feels supremely balanced and delivers emphatic notions of quality. Rich pear notes, dried and fresh, honeyed …

Pretty aromas of just-ripe white stone fruit, white flowers, grilled nuts, nougat, sweet spice, honey and green melon. The palate has lovely weight and texture, creamy, nutty and mouth-filling, with a core of nectarine, grapefruit and pithy, mineral acidty. Long, …