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, …

Medium deep garnet to ruby rim still there. Still fresh with a core of berry fruit: black, boysen and blue. White pepper, powdered cocoa, cedar and vanilla still offering some winemaking influence. There’s a hint of development with nori sheet/beef …

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 …

Tapanappa Wrattonbully Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc 2015, $115. Didn’t women once wear whalebone in their corsets? Seems totally inappropriate for such a grand creature, which increases no end the credibility of this wine grown on the soil of long …

This wine has been held back for a prestigious re-release. It of course was reviewed some time ago on WineFront, with applause and praise given.

It’s in a beautiful spot. Almost a ‘pinosity’ to the wine, suppleness, medium weight, satiny …

It’s a heady mix of Merlot and Cabernet Franc (69/31%) from the cool 2015 vintage. Remnants of oak, cedar, redcurrant – all the more impressive for a wine at ten years to maintain a level of primary expression.

It was …

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 …

Although the nose shows a hint of maturity, the plum/blackberry fruit is impressively fresh. This exceptional wine is certainly an Australian Pomerol, and the powdery tannins interact seamlessly with the intense flavour.

5 stars

…

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.…

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 …

A warm and dry vintage for the region in 2019, which helped ensure that the Whalebone Vineyard, planted 45 years ago, had a very small yield. The wine is a blend of 85% Cabernet and 15% Shiraz. The Shiraz comes …

This is about as fashionable as merlot gets, however, just because you have money, doesn’t mean you have taste, in which case buy this to cover it up. Scrumptious red wine for the rich and fashionable. 9.5/10.…

Same winemaking as the Merlot blend, but this wine soaks up the oak perfectly. It’s dark and oak framed, but the core of dark berry minty impact is bold enough to take out. It’s brooding, chocolatey, tannic, and somehow more …