Tapanappa News, Articles & Reviews

"It marries elegance with vitality" - 2017 Tiers Vineyard 1.5m Chardonnay

Author: 
Tony Love
Source: 
Tony Love Journalist
Review Date: 
October 2018

You’ll notice on the front label of this fabulous Hills Chardonnay that Tapanappa proprietor Brian Croser clearly defines this as a Piccadilly Valley wine, the Tiers site being where he set up home and winery, the latter begun as Petaluma in 1979 and after a rocky history of corporate wrangling, now under the Tapanappa livery, is once again back with him privately. He celebrates the Piccadilly Valley like no other, and the three Chardonnays from there are stunners, this specifically from one side of the vineyard replanted in 2003 to defined clones in very close spacing – hence the 1.5M marking.

"Arguably the best ... I've seen" - 2017 Foggy Hill Pinot Noir

Author: 
Campbell Mattinson
Source: 
Wine Front
Review Date: 
October 2018

2017 was a warmer than average year at Foggy Hill but the wine wasn’t harvested until late March, early April. This is arguably the best Foggy Hill Pinot Noir I’ve seen. It’s fragrant, it’s pretty, it’s well formed and then it’s lengthy through the finish. It sets up its case meticulously and then prosecutes it both firmly and convincingly. Florals, meats, spices, macerated cherries, a clip of sexy oak. Mouthfeel is creamy and then dry in a good way. In all respects it’s both a beautiful and an impressive wine.

94 points

Global Pinot Masters gold... again

Author: 
Patrick Schmitt
Source: 
Drinks Business
Review Date: 
July 2018

The 2015 Fleurieu Peninsula Pinot Noir has once again picked up a gold at the Drinks Business, 2018 Global Pinot Noir Masters. In his summary of the competition Patrick Schmitt MW noted:

Once the wines surpassed the £20 mark, as one would expect, the number of Gold medal-scoring samples increased significantly, with great Pinots from Napa, Yarra, Marlborough, Oregon and Aukland, as well as perennial high performer, Tapanappa, the only Pinot from Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula.

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2018/06/pinot-noir-masters-2018-results/

2015 Fleurieu Pinot delivers Gold... again

Submitted by Sam Barlow on the 6th of July 2018

The 2015 Fleurieu Peninsula Pinot Noir has once again picked up a gold at the Drinks Business, 2018 Global Pinot Noir Masters. Further raising questions over Brian’s decision to declassify this wine! In his summary of the competition Patrick Schmitt MW noted:

Once the wines surpassed the £20 mark, as one would expect, the number of Gold medal-scoring samples increased significantly, with great Pinots from Napa, Yarra, Marlborough, Oregon and Aukland, as well as perennial high performer, Tapanappa, the only Pinot from Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula.

Gold medal and Critics Choice - Sommelier Wine Awards

Source: 
Sommelier Wine Awards
Review Date: 
May 2018


It was an impressed judging panel that elevated this Chardonnay to Gold, with its ‘struck match, smoky bacon nose, tahini and rich yellow orchard fruits, sappy acidity and elegance’, as team leader Nigel Lister put it, also noting that it was ‘young, but with great potential’. Meanwhile Lazaros Engonopoulos of Coq d’Argent found it ‘immensely intense, with ripe white fruits and botanicals, notes of dried banana, avocado and freshly baked cake, and with buttery notes and a good, elegant finish’.

Full award results

Decanter World Wines Awards - Best in Show

Source: 
Decanter Magazine
Review Date: 
May 2018

We are very pleased to announce our 2016 Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay has just been crowned with a Platinum Best in Show award at the Decanter World Wine Awards. This sees it placed in the top 50 wines across the entire global field of 17,000 entries.

2018 Vintage Report - Another hot one

Submitted by Brian Croser on the 14th of May 2018

I am over above average temperature vintages.

One of the great paradoxes of winemaking is that to make the best wines from our established suite of noble varieties, choose a cool region, look for the warmest site in the region and hope for vintages that are above average in temperature.

The best wines from cool regions are made in the vintages that are warmer and drier than average.

Well, vintage 2018 answered the description warmer and drier than average by an uncomfortably large margin.

More Global Chardonnay Masters success

Author: 
The Drinks Business
Source: 
Global Chardonnay Masters
Review Date: 
December 2017

The 2016 Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay has just taken out gold at The Drinks Business 2017 International Chardonnay Masters.

This continues a fantastic run, having picked up Master Chardonnay in 2015, Gold in 2016 and another Gold for 2017.

About the competition:

The Global Masters is a series of blind tasting competitions, drawing in entries from across the world. One of the key elements to its success is the quality and the dedication of the judges involved.

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