Recognition

Subtle woodsmoke, Mirabelle jelly, wet loam and ripe lemon on the nose make for a dramatic and complex opening. The palate is immediately concentrated, a perfect calibration of creaminess and citric verve, all delivered with a super-fluid, smooth mouthfeel and …

You remember when I pumped up the little brother wine to this new Tapanappa Tiers 1.5m Chardonnay 2021? This is a significant step up. Different though.

Drawn from the close-planted block across the path from the original Tiers 1979 plantings …

A sheeer delight from the get-go, with grilled peach and toasted hazelnuts. There’s a creaminess, almost a milky panacotta like offering, with perhaps a little herb – sage – steeped.

The palate is crisp, taut – a certain minerally quality …

The chardonnay vines on the Tiers Vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley are all now well over 30 years old though some are much older that that, having been planted in the late 1970s.

This is stunning. Intense with flavour, chalky …

Pale colour. Intense fresh grapefruit, lime, tonic water aromas with vanilla nougat notes. Fresh and creamy textured with grapefruit, lime, bitter lemon, stone fruit flavours, fine loose knit chalky, hint of al dente textures, lovely mid palate viscosity and bell-clear …

There is self-assured confidence to this vintage of Tiers. It’s not all bells and whistles right now, with greater restraint than the 1.5M, more Puligny than Meursault. But what it is already showing is outstanding complexity with melon, citrus, florals …

Bright, light to mid-yellow colour leads into a complex and alluring bouquet of smoky barrel ferment and tropical fruits, traces of pineapple and melon conserve, the palate refined and lingering, taut and persistent, finishing with a slight grip. It neatly …

Pale colour. Beautiful grapefruit, apricot, cashew nut, roasted almond with underlying vanilla oak notes. Generous and supple with lovely apricot, white peach, grapefruit, grilled nut flavours, fine slinky textures, creamy mid-palate complexity, linear fresh acidity and integrated vanilla, hint crème …

A big step up here from the Piccadilly label, with fruit off a portion of the Tiers vineyard replanted in 2003 with Burgundian clones at higher density than the original plots. Very pale in colour and embryonic, this is still …

Pale lemon-yellow hue. Lemon curd, struck-flint and smoky-oak undertones. The palate fills with intense lemon blossoms and stone fruits, whilst savoury, smoky and stony minerality fill all the nooks and crannies of the mouth. Still incredibly tightly wound, it drives …

Could be a good choice for people who are vertically challenged?

So flinty and tight, but has generosity of flavour with white peach, brioche, cashew and cedar, and a cool fennel perfume. Fine-boned, chalky texture, cool grapefruit acidity mixing it …

The chardonnay vines on the Tiers Vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley are all now well over 30 years old though some were planted in the late 1970s.

This is an intense glide of beautiful chardonnay flavour. It had me hooked …

A lovely sense of smokiness precedes the hazelnut notions on the nose. A touch of ripe yellow plum adds an irresistible sense of juiciness. The palate then unites exquisite, soaring freshness with absolute linearity and concentration. A toasty sense of …

Subtle woodsmoke, Mirabelle jelly, wet loam and ripe lemon on the nose make for a dramatic and complex opening. The palate is immediately concentrated, a perfect calibration of creaminess and citric verve, all delivered with a super-fluid, smooth mouthfeel and …

As a pioneer of Australian cool-climate viticulture, Brian Croser was the first to plant Chardonnay in the Adelaide Hills – now his latest vintage is out.

Few people can claim pioneer status in the 21^st century but Brian Croser …

Hand-picked fruit, chilled in trays, whole-berry pressed, fermented in French oak barriques (one-third new). Matured in barrel on full lees. From a year of frost and fire comes, according to Brian Croser, a ‘miracle’. The 2020 offers a celebration not …

This young chardonnay vineyard, just 13 years old, is starting to fully express itself. It’s a little racy in a chablis kind of way, sporting brisk acidity and keen, juicy fruit. Opens with aromas of lemon blossom, all lemony clean …

Pale lemon-green; smoky-toasty oak, apricot, orange blossom, white peach; pristine, bracing acidity, mid-weight, richly fruited, layered and textured, spicy, long. More-ish. Savoury. …

Quite delicate, but complex nose, hint of smoke, chalk, toast, and stone fruit. Palate has some creaminess, vanilla oak, toast, smoke, some warmth, along with peach and pear fruit, then some apple freshness. Good. Layered, youthful. Lively and chalky.…

This parcel has performed so impressively in 2020, with trademark white-peach aromas and a subtle lemon-cream edge. The oak is so well integrated here. There’s impressive seamlessness on the palate with citrus-nuanced stone fruit carrying so long and fresh. Thrilling …

This offers the same blend of lemon and white peach seen in the old-vine Tiers Chardonnay from this vintage, with greater oak influence reading in the wine for now. The intensity is impressive, with acidity driving a vivid, powerful palate. …

Tiers Vineyard replanted in 2003 to clones 76 and 95 at 1.5m row spacing. Close planting produces earlier ripening and fuller flavours, yielding a generous style in this warm year. Pristine white peach fruit glimpses at mandarin exotics, underscored by …

450m elevation; planted 1979, the first vineyard in the modern Adelaide Hills. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of its planting, this fabled site experienced a much warmer vintage than average in 2019. Classic fig and white peach notes have edged toward …

Light yellow colour. The nose is reductive, smoky matchstick, a kiss of oak too, in balance. Small flowers, quite lovely fruit-driven aromas. The palate is soft and round and refined, tapering a bit towards the back. The acid is a trifle firm, …