Members Only – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz 2005
The Whalebone Vineyard terroir exerts its strength in the Cabernet Shiraz blend as a combination of smoky Eucalyptus, anise and fresh earth aromas and flavours. The Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2005 Cabernet Shiraz has the fruit sweet core of ripe mulberry and blackberry provided by Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz in the warm 2005 vintage. The Cabernet Franc provides a floral aroma note and silky tannin texture and has a much greater influence than the 10% component suggests.Dishes based on spring lamb lightly roasted with thyme or rare pigeon breast naturally balance and amplify the structure and flavour of Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2005 Cabernet Shiraz.
Members Only – Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2016
2016 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir is defined by the cool maritime site at Parawa and by the extraordinary warmth of the 2016 vintage.
The colour is deep and the hue purple red. The wine is intense and brooding, the latent liveliness and freshness overshadowed by the ripe complex black fruit aroma and flavour of the warm ripe vintage.
The wine has a significant tannin profile; they are ripe elegant tannins that will serve the wine well through bottle age. No ephemeral, lightly aromatic, soft tannin wine here, Tapanappa 2016 Foggy Hill Pinot Noir stamps its foot and says “savour me over time.”
Most importantly, 2016 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir is a “pure expression of the unique Parawa, Fleurieu Peninsula terroir.”
Members Only – Tapanappa Wrattonbully Cabernet Shiraz 2007
2007 Tapanappa Wrattonbully Cabernet Shiraz has the very ripe fruit flavours and texture of this exceptionally small and early vintage. Despite the ripeness the alcohol is in balance and the silky ripe tannins meld with the ripe fruit flavours.
The 2007 Tapanappa Cabernet Shiraz retains the elegant structure and the earthy, anise and Eucalypt smoke flavours of the Joanna, Wrattonbully terroir.
2007 Tapanappa Wrattonbully Cabernet-Shiraz is “a pure expression of the unique Joanna Wrattonbully terroir”.
Intense carmine colour typical of Shiraz but still vaguely translucent. The aroma is of blackberry and spiced plums, some anise with hints of fine leather. This is a big wine in structure and flavour with determined tannins to backup the sumptuous sweet fruit middle.
This 2017 Shiraz is a wine for the ages, worthy of decades in the cellar.
It is the pure expression of the unique Shining Rock Vineyard terroir.
Members Only – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5M Chardonnay 2015
Tapanappa 2015 Tiers 1.5m Chardonnay is unmistakably a reflection of the unique terroir of The Tiers distinguished site. It has the ripe stone-fruit aroma and flavour and the significant texture of Tiers Chardonnay. Because of the precocious Bernard clones and the reflected ground warmth of the low slung 1.5m vineyard, Tiers 1.5m Chardonnay ripens earlier and more completely than the older vine Tiers Chardonnay. The texture is rich even though the natural acid provides tautness and the flavours are of luxuriant ripe Chardonnay with a slight quince finish.
Members Only – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz 2004
First and foremost the 2004 Tapanappa Cabernet Shiraz is the taste of the Whalebone Vineyard. The terroir delivers complexity involving the aroma and taste of dusty earth and Eucalypt smoke.
A glass of Tapanappa Cabernet Shiraz is translucent and a vibrant cerise colour. The aroma is built in layers with a core of Cabernet Sauvignon mulberry and clove surrounded by the blackberry and liquorice of Shiraz.
A central sweet fruit flavour follows on with dry dusty tannins turning creamy as the persistence of the fruit, earth and smoke creates length. 2004 Tapanappa Cabernet Shiraz is from a cool dry sunny year and is much longer than it is wide.
Spring lamb lightly roasted with thyme and rosemary is the natural dish to amplify the flavours and structure of the wine.
Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 2019 1.5M Chardonnay MAGNUM
Because of the small crop, 2019 Tiers 1.5M Chardonnay is exquisitely concentrated. Pale green/lemon in colour, the aroma is of white peach, canteloupe and the faint cinnamon and vanilla of Fench oak.
Typical of Tiers, the wine has a significant texture and is a riper and more advanced expression of the vineyard because of the earlier ripening Dijon clones..
Mellow and ripe the wine still has the finishing acid of the very cool climate Tiers Vineyard Again a light grape fruit bitterness lends a suitable end to the sweet fruit core of the wine.
2019 Tapanappa Tiers 1.5M Chardonnay is “a very age worthy expression of this unique Australian terroir”.
Tapanappa 2015 Tiers 1.5m Chardonnay is unmistakably a reflection of the unique terroir of The Tiers distinguished site. It has the ripe stone-fruit aroma and flavour and the significant texture of Tiers Chardonnay. Because of the precocious Bernard clones and the reflected ground warmth of the low slung 1.5m vineyard, Tiers 1.5m Chardonnay ripens earlier and more completely than the older vine Tiers Chardonnay. The texture is rich even though the natural acid provides tautness and the flavours are of luxuriant ripe Chardonnay with a slight quince finish.
Choose your own 12 wines from our curated selection every 12 months and receive 20% off RRP. Offers will include access to rare back vintage wines as well as Cellar Door and Wine Club exclusive wines.
Double up on the Discovery wines and receive 6 bottles delivered to your door every 3 or 6 months. You will also receive a 15% discount on all Tapanappa wine purchases online and at our Cellar Door.
This 2018 Definitus special bottling of Foggy Hill Pinot Noir has intense cerise colour.
The aroma is of complex, ripe dark fruits, black and blueberries, faint cassis and hints of floral notes. The flavours are rich, ripe and dense with plum to compliment the characteristic Foggy Hill earthy, spicey complexity.
The tannins are fine but pervasive and the warm year 2018 Foggy Hill “Definitus” will benefit from a decade or longer of bottle age.
2017 Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz has a dark garnet colour with a purple edge.
The aromas are rich cassis and slight nettle from the Cabernet Sauvignon and complex fine leather and anise from the Shiraz. The slight mint and fresh earth of the Whalebone terroir is melded with the cedar of the oak and tannin. The whole is at once complex, powerful and ripe.
The flavours reflect the aroma, and the fruit is immediately sweet and ripe, graduating to a refined tannin and balanced acid finish.
This is an intense complex wine, with finesse as well as strength and is a “true expression of the unique Whalebone Vineyard terroir” from an exceptional vintage.
Discover Tapanappa and enjoy wines personally selected by Brian Croser. 3 Wines delivered to your door every 3 months. You will also receive 15% discount on all Tapanappa wine purchases online and at our Cellar Door.
Members Only – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2006 Cabernet Shiraz
The Whalebone Vineyard terroir exerts its strength in the Cabernet Shiraz blend as a combination of smokey Eucalypt, anise and fresh earth aromas and flavours.The Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2006 Cabernet Shiraz has the fruit sweet core of ripe mulberry and blackberry provided by Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz in the slightly warmer than average 2006 vintage. The Cabernet Franc provides a floral aroma note and silky tannin texture and has much greater influence than the 10% component suggests. The 2006 vintage is notable for its definite but fine-grained tannins.Dishes based on spring lamb lightly roasted with thyme or rare pigeon breast naturally balance and amplify the structure and flavour of Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2006
2021 Foggy Hill Pinot Noir is an above average crop, cool vintage expression of the Foggy Hill terroir.
The wine is translucent with a light purple-red hue. The aroma is floral and fresh with raspberry and strawberry fruit notes layered over the complex Foggy Hill ripe plum terroir expression. The aroma effect is ethereal.The flavours are lilting and fresh but intense, allowed to express fully by the very moderate alcohol. The tannins are forceful for such a delicate wine,but they are refined.
2021 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir is the reflection of the perfectly ripe fruit from which it was made and is a “typical expression of the unique Foggy Hill terroir.”
Gorgeously composed and expressed, showing dark berry, dried herb, charcuterie, rich floral and nutmeg aromas on the nose, followed by a concentrated palate delivering fine texture and flowing mouthfeel. Tannins are beautifully melded, making the wine splendidly harmonious and structured…
It’s wonderfully complex and inviting on the nose with dark plum, olive, mixed spice and toasted almond characters, followed by a richly expressed palate offering excellent weight backed by silken texture and finely infused chalky tannins. Beautifully styled with classic …
Stylish and complex, the wine shows blackcurrant, sweet cherry, cedar, clove and rich floral aromas on the nose. The concentrated palate delivers silky-smooth mouthfeel and plush texture, splendidly framed by layers of polished tannins, finishing gracefully long and satisfying. At …
Excellent release. | 95 Points | Stuart Robinson | The Vinsomniac – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022
Another “near perfect” vintage remarks Brian Croser in the notes accompanying the release. Slightly warmer than 2021, but like that vintage it’s considered spot on – compared to the run of warmer years in the decade from around the 2010s.
A creamy generosity, febrile energy and kaleidoscopic complexity all in one. | 96 points | Halliday Wine Companion – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5M Chardonnay 2022
An incredibly intense chardonnay, mid-weighted and tightly furled. The edges are as chewy as they are sleek, with a parry of freshness melding with a thrust of oak, effortlessly subsumed by the sheer palate-staining extract. White peach, nectarine, peat and …
It is among the country’s great | 97 points | Ned Goodwin MW | Halliday Wine Companion – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022
While the 1.5m Chardonnay sibling is arguably more impressive on release, this is resinous and latent with multitudinous layers of flavour compressed by classy oak and juicy acidity. I like the way the fruit is subdued in a quasi-burgundian fashion, …
The Adelaide Hills is home to more than 50 cellar doors and over 90 wine labels. Less than half an hour from the CBD, the region is the ultimate weekend escape or long lunch destination. Take a cellar door tour …
Elegance and detail go hand in hand here. | 95 points | Halliday Wine Companion – Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2020
Some (15%) whole bunches placed on bottom of fermentation tub, topped with destemmed, crushed must. Inoculated, 16-day fermentation followed by 5 days on skins. Matured 10 months in French barrique. 220 dozen made. The 2020 vintage was cooler than average, …
Croser to showcase cool-climate credentials of the Adelaide Hills
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 …
Tremendous line and length promise great things in time. | 95 points | Tyson Stelzer | Wine Business Magazine – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022
The inherent power and confidence of Tiers is intricately toned by the tension and grace of this cool season, defining a linear and taut style of tremendous endurance and promise. The richness of this place rumbles away in the background …
Delicate and pure | Peter Forrestal | Money Magazine – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022
While the quality of Australian Chardonnay is improving exponentially, Brian Croser’s Tiers remains among the finest as it glides into its fifth decade. Consecutive, near perfect and slightly cooler vintages in the Piccadilly Valley in the Adelaide Hills have once …
From the Shining Rock vineyard, which has a history of turning out impressive and detailed Shiraz, this is a charming, mid-weight style with a pretty array of fruits, from fruit pastilles and dark cherry to gentle touches of spice and …
Needs a few years to see its full potential | 94 points | Andrew Graham – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022
As ever with Tiers, this needs a few years to see its full potential (as this vertical showed). And this 2022 release feels achingly young. Too young for now. On the first pass against the rest of the wines in …
A seriously fine modern Chardonnay | 94 points | Andrew Graham – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5M Chardonnay 2022
There is little difference quality-wise to the M3 & the Tiers 1.5m, and separating them was just hair-splitting. This is even more linear and coiled than the M3, and I suspect it will be longer lived. Doesn’t feel as open, …
Food would make this wine really stand up | 94 points | The Real Review – Tapanappa Eden Valley Riesling 2022
Intense and singular lemon juice aroma, traces of tropical flowers, all delicate and restrained, a tickle of sweetness before a cleansing firmness helps dry the finish. A punchy style with a little hardness but good intensity, and food would make …
Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2018 Merlot Cabernet Franc
Vintage Notes
2018 was the second warmest vintage on record after 2016. Despite being warm at 1799C days versus the average of 1464C days there were no heat waves and fewer than normal days above 35C. The rainfall post veraison …
2018 was the second warmest vintage on record after 2016. Despite being warm at 1799C days versus the average of 1464C days there were no heat waves and fewer than normal days above 35C. The rainfall post veraison …
The 2021 vintage was the second consecutive cooler than average vintage after a sequence dominated by above average temperature vintages from 2006 to 2019.
At Foggy Hill, 2021 was cooler than average with a growing season heat summation …
2020 vintage was a rare cooler than average vintage in an increasing frequency of above average temperature vintages. Meanwhile theaverage moves inexorably upward.
At Foggy Hill 2020 was cooler than average with a growing season heat summation …
Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard 2019 Definitus Pinot Noir
Vintage Notes
The centre of the Foggy Hill north-western slope planted in 2003 to Dijon Pinot Noir clones 115 and 777, ripens grapes to a greater fruit intensity and deeper colour than the rest of the vineyard. The centre of …
The 2022 vintage in the Piccadilly was marginally warmer than average at 1176ºC days versus the average of 1098ºC days. 1176ºC days is a cool year compared to the hot vintages in the decade prior to 2020. 2020, …
The Tiers Vineyard was planted in 1979, the first vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley since the 19th century. The vineyard is close-spaced and vertical canopy, the first of this quality focussed design in Australia. The clone of Chardonnay in “old” …
In 2003 the Croser family removed 1.3 hectares of the original Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay, planted in 1979 in the Piccadilly Valley as the first Adelaide Hills vineyard. The area was replanted with the French Bernard clones 76 and 95 …
I have described the 2021 vintage in the Piccadilly Valley as “near perfect”. Like 2020, the 2021 vintage wasmarginally warmer than average. What a relief to have two successive cooler vintages, (indeed 3 as I observethe …
I have described the 2021 vintage in the Piccadilly Valley as “near perfect”. Like 2020, the 2021 vintage wasmarginally warmer than average. What a relief to have two successive cooler vintages, (indeed 3 as I observethe …
I have described the 2021 vintage in the Piccadilly Valley as “near perfect”. Like 2020, the 2021 vintage wasmarginally warmer than average. What a relief to have two successive cooler vintages, (indeed 3 as I observethe …
Richness and concentration Well trimmed on the palate in beautiful crafted tannins | 93 points | Halliday Wine Companion- Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Blend 2020
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 …
An intensely flavoured and tensile Riesling | 93 points | Halliday Wine Companion – Tapanappa Eden Valley Riesling 2022
An intensely flavoured and tensile Riesling, fidelitous to region and hand. The quotient of lime, orange blossom, ginger crystal and spiced Granny Smith apple portioned nicely in the name of poise, approachability and yet, real potential for the cellar. I …
A pretty pinot with a cherry and plum duo | 95 points | James Halliday – Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021
Dijon clones; aged in French barriques (30% new). A pretty pinot with a cherry and plum duo that provide the heart of both bouquet and palate. It’s a base for the spices and rose petals that will appear over the …
A delicious Chardonnay | 93 points | Halliday Wine Companion – Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2022
Sourced from a troika of cool-climate sites, this is a delicious chardonnay: mid-weighted and tense with glazed quince, tangerine and stone fruit allusions curled across some honeycomb oak (33% new) and a chord of acid vibrato. Almond meal and toasted …
The length is super | 17/20 | Andrew Graham – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz 2018
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 …
Finishes claret firm with leafy notes | 94 point | Andrew Caillard MW – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc 2018
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 …
Very good balance, density and torque | 95 points | Andrew Caillard MW – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz 2018
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 …
Delicious and distinctive | Tony Love – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022
From Brian Croser’s pioneer Piccadilly Valley vineyard, this is an all-enveloping Chardonnay experience, captivatingly ripe in its aromatic and flavour profile, white peach/nectarine with grapefruit inserts, a sense of creaminess, vanilla shortbreads and a faint spicy oak backdrop, which comes …
Anbeguiling and impressive wine of great style and sophistication | 98 points | Tony Love – Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2020
From Brian Croser’s Parawa vineyard at the southern corner of the Fleurieu Peninsula, air and sea-conditioned by the energized Southern Ocean and especially so during the cooler than average 2020 growing season, which has brought to this wine a delightfully …
Delicious purity of fruit | 91 points | Angus Hughson – Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2022
Pale colour. Fresh lifted pear drop, white peach, lemon curd, grilled nut aromas. Well concentrated and Pale colour. Very attractive grapefruit lemon curd, tonic water aromas with marzipan, vanilla notes. Classical, beautifully balanced and multi-layered wine with grapefruit, lemon curd,
Super wine and great value | 94 points | Angus Hushson – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5M Chardonnay 2022
This is a Chardonnay that is screaming for the cellar, and at least three or four years thanks to its current state which is wound up tight as a spring. It is bursting with embryonic aromas – grapefruit and tonic …
Every element in its perfect place | 96 points | Angus Hughson – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022
This is an immaculate Chardonnay and one of best Tiers vintages yet with every element in its perfect place. It opens with beautifully precise and detailed aromas of grapefruit, honeydew melon and chalky minerality topped by fine new oak all …
A good five years would be welcome | 18/20 | Andrew Graham – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz 2018
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, …
Such a delicious Chardonnay | 9.7/10 | Max Crus – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022
Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022, $110. It is almost impossible to get the double consonants correct with this wine, but that is irrelevant, it is such a delicious chardonnay it is almost sacrilege to put it in the
Something not that far from the top | 9.5/10 | Mac Crus – Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2022
Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay, 2022, $49. This is one of the cheapest in a range of what is likely Australia’s finest chardonnay stable, and if you’re looking for somewhere to start you’re rewarded with something not that far from the …
Brian Croser of Tapanappa provides the sequel to his report on the nerve-wracking 2023 harvest. Above, the vines at Tapanappa are finally free of the netting that kept the berries safe from the birds.
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Liquor Licensing Act 1997 It is an offense to sell or to supply to or to obtain liquor on behalf of a person under the age of 18 years. Liquor license No. 57008504 Wines are sold by Tapanappa Wines Pty. Ltd. ABN 86 104 001 667
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