Recognition

It feels Grinchish, but I’d rather drink the 1.5m Chardonnay now. That’s because, as this vertical showed, Tiers needs a good five years to show its best, not one. Especially from a vintage that was cool (1093C vs the …

The close-planted 1.5m block on the Tiers vineyard is now twenty years old and is clearly hitting its straps. In the early days, an element was missing in the spotty-labelled 1.5m Chardonnay wines that reminds us what vine age does …

Lovely figgy note gently wafting from the glass here. Add to that ripe stonefruit, pear – it’s like a summer salad in a glass. 
Bracing acidity running the full length of the wine. Citrus, stonefruit – a herbal/ floral note …

From a close-planted, lower-to-ground trellised plot in the Tiers Vineyard, Piccadilly, Adelaide Hills. An intense wine, concentrated and surprisingly rich given the season. Scents of salted cashew, ripe apple, ginger, clove, fennel and green mango, the palate an echo of …

From the Tiers Vineyard planted in 1979. A third of the barrels used are new French oak. The cooler year renders a wine of tension and torsion, precision and finesse. It’s heavily perfumed, an invitation to drink lustily, with green …

Lovely figgy note gently wafting from the glass here. Add to that ripe stonefruit, pear – it’s like a summer salad in a glass.

Bracing acidity running the full length of the wine. Citrus, stonefruit – a herbal/ floral note …

Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Tiers Vineyard (Alt. 450m) Chardonnay 2023, $110.

About as much going on as a chardonnay can provide and all of it good. Somewhat lighter than exxy chardonnays are renowned, and better for it. Alas, few will discover …

Enticing citrus, orchard fruit and grilled cashew notes flow and swirl around the simmering acidity and fine creamy texture and propel towards the enchanting, long finish.…

Inviting, with quince, candied lemon and fresh pineapple juice leading to a palate of apple, white peach, vanilla and coconut.…

There’s a cooling aspect to this, with its jasmine and seaspray notes, but its core is nutty and peachy, and while it feels measured it also has a presence. This is a fine chardonnay. Stonefruit, pear and salted nut characters …

Planted in 1979, the Tiers Vineyard is purportedly the first to have been planted in the Piccadilly Valley since the 19th century. It’s a revered site with a history of producing hugely successful Chardonnay wines made by powerhouse Australian wine …

If Tiers 1.5m Chardonnay hails from the “new” block of French Bernard clones planted in 2003, fruit for this Tiers Chardonnay is off the “old” block, the original block established in 1979. A cool vintage and low yields bring good …

The Adelaide Hills 2023 vintage was the coolest of the four consecutive cool vintages since 2020. To quote winemaker, Brian Croser, the ’23 Chardonnays are far from “overt.” I find that re-assuring, the vintage speaks and it’s beautifully fine with …

Naturally, there is a close relationship between this wine and the preceding one. The 1.5m comes from younger vines, but both were made from hand-picked grapes that were chilled to 2°C, and air-bag pressed before fermentation in French barriques, one …

The nose reflects a cool site and vintage, offering suggestions of grapefruit, fig and white nectarine supported by lees complexity and a whiff of oak toastiness. The long, creamy, acid-fresh palate is a delight.…

Only 2011 was cooler than 2023 (of recent vintages) in the Piccadilly Valley, as expressed in HDD at 1093°, versus the long term average of 1135°. This is from a block planted in 1979,  the clone unknown.

Pear, grapefruit and lemon …

From a section of the Tiers vineyard close planted in 2003 using the Bernard clones 76 and 95. This is same same, but different to the old vine Tiers, a little fleshier, but it’s the texture that’s the main point …

Pale gold with cyan reflections and a tight, but beautifully nuanced nose of orange and apple blossom, white peach, pear, apple, lemon, finger-lime, sugarmelon, dried galangal, cashew and honey nougat, fennel, a touch of spearmint, ocean salinity and a hint …

Pale gold with cyan and silver reflections and a nose of honeysuckle, pear, fleshy lemon and lime, white pineapple and peach, white pepper, chervil, coriander seed, ripe fig, candied almond, custard, butter, spearmint and anise. Saint Aubin vibes! In the …

Pale lemon with green highlights. Fruit focused, but remaining delicate and intense. Pear, apple, sherbet, warm cinnamon spice, grapefruit and preserved lemon citrus, clove oil and torn brioche. Delicate texture, with precision and focus. Pomme fruit and grapefruit echoes after …

Pale lemon hue. Floral and fragrant. Pomme fruit and blossom, easy roast roast nut delicacy, soft honey, bread crust, ground salt and grapefruit pith.  Such flow and evenness with incredibly complex layers of fruit and winemaking that swirl and writhe …

And you thought the Tiers 1.5m was something special? Woah! This is a treat and then some. The Tiers from Tapanappa has quite rightly built itself a reputation over the years and this further cements its standing as one of …

Lighty toasted cashewnut aroma, hints of vanilla and almond-meal, the palate refined and tense, concentrated and yet seamlessly textured and composed. The wine is very smooth and rounded, with plenty of acidity but you barely feel it. Lovely depth of …

Restrained straw/dried-herb aromas, the palate searingly intense with strong lemon/grapefruit flavours and lively acidity which is felt throughout the mouth. Intense, focused and bright on the tongue, super-refreshing and almost tangy, with a gorgeous fruit-sweet core and a cleansing, refreshing …