Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 2025 Chardonnay

The Tiers Vineyard was planted in 1979 and was the first vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley since the 19th century. The vineyard features close spacing and a vertical canopy, the first of this quality-focused design in Australia. The clone of Chardonnay in The Tiers Vineyard is of unknown origin but is probably related to the first introduction of Chardonnay vines to Australia by James Busby in 1832. The 2025 vintage in the Piccadilly Valley was the warmest, driest and earliest vintage on record. The growing season accumulated 1620°C days versus the average of 1150°C days, more than the other two outlier warm vintages, 2016 and 2018.

Unlike 2016 and 2018, elevated night temperatures contributed significantly to the high 2025 heat summation and there were no heat waves. The 2025 Chardonnay crop was about average in The Tiers Vineyard at 7 tonnes/hectare, promoted by a warm, dry flowering in mid- October.

The Chardonnay grapes on the 44-year-old vines of our Tiers Vineyard ripened in the dry and sunny conditions of early Autumn. The Tiers Vineyard yielded up its precious crop on the 6th of March, three to four weeks ahead of average and the earliest ever.