Recognition

Dark, impenetrable ruby and purple with a complex and savoury edged nose of violets, cassis, grilled cherry and plum, dried oregano, hints of mint tea, fig leaf, roasted meat, cedar, tobacco, graphite and a lift of sumac. Lots going on!…

The wine industry in Australia can be a parochial business, so kudos to an event in Victoria that is to put a spotlight on the wines of the Adelaide Hills.

For the first time, the International Cool Climate Wine Show …

What would Brian Croser say to his younger self? “Be patient, and trust the vineyard. The mistakes I’ve made in winemaking, which are legion, are because I’ve …

52/24/24% cabernet sauvignon/merlot/cabernet franc, each fermented separately. Matured for 20 months in new French barriques before blending; 420 dozen made. Poor flowering and fruit set in 2020 resulted in a Whalebone Vineyard crop of just 1t/ha. It was decided to …

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 …

The sharp-minded, deliberate and controversial Brian Croser has been a forceful and polarising advocate of Australia’s fine wine …

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 …

Medium to deep ruby colour with purple tinges. The bouquet is oaky and pungent, with some camphor and mint-eucalypt forest overtones, the palate a bit rasping and astringent when first poured, with the flavours turning to polished leather, red fruits …

A rarity, I guess. There is just this single release from Tapanappa’s Whalebone Vineyard in 2020 as there was just 8 tonnes of grapes harvested due to crap flowering. Who’d want to be a grapegrower, eh? It’s a whole vineyard …

Deep crimson in colour followed by a compact and concentrated unashamedly claret stye with structure, fruit focus and longevity keys to its success. Robust blackberry, blackcurrant fruits to start well supported by spicy oak, then building with mulberry and graphite …

Signature Wrattonbully, from menthol-tinted aromatics and cassis-defined palate to fine-grained, powdery, chalk-dusted tannins. A cool season heightens tang, freshness, endurance and beauty. Everything works together confidently for a future as long as the cork holds out. …