Recognition

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 elegant and age-worth reds. It is a classic Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc given an Australian twist with the addition of shiraz.

 » Read more about: “This a wine of impressive balance and finesse” | Winsor Dobbin | Gourmet on the Road – Tapanappa Whalebone Cabernets Merlot Franc 2021  »

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

 » Read more about: “This exceptional wine is certainly an Australian Pomerol” 5 Stars | Lester Jesberg | Winewise – Tapanappa Whalebone Merlot Cabernet Franc 2015  »

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.

 » Read more about: “An impressively long palate” 4.5 Stars | Lester Jesberg | Winewise – Tapanappa Whalebone Cabernets Merlot Franc 2021  »

Pale and crystal bright lemon hue. Dried papaya, grapefruit pith and yellow floral aromatics. Good intensity of lime fruit, hints of tropical lift and a seaspray minerality. There’s a textural element that suggests sweetness but the ample acidity and astutely built phenolics balance it out well. Lovely length and stays intense to the finish.

94 Points

 » Read more about: “Lovely length and stays intense to the finish” 94 Points | Stuart Knox | The Real Review – Tapanappa Eden Valley Riesling 2024  »

The punchy, youthful single-vineyard 2024 Chardonnay 1.5M is sure to impress with its combination of raw power and subtlety. Waves of peach skin and nectarine aromas are complemented by white flowers and a creamy cashew nut complexity. Compact and surprisingly dense and forceful, its strong oak presence provides definition to some more tropical nuances. Long,

 » Read more about: “Long, strong, serious and sure to age well” 95 Points | Angus Hughson | Vinous – Tapanappa Tiers 1.5M Chardonnay 2024  »

The more sophisticated and reserved 2024 Chardonnay Tiers is a little shy and tightly coiled right now, offering up pristine aromas of melon and pear topped by fine oatmeal tones and spicy oak, with just a touch of smoky reduction. This is superbly balanced, unforced and seamless, holding its power in reserve. The 2024 builds beautifully with layered complexity as it meanders through to a long,

 » Read more about: “Superbly balanced, unforced and seamless, holding its power in reserve” 96 Points | Angus Hughson | Vinous – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2024  »

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 opportunity it is to check out where this wine has come from and where it has the potential to go.

 » Read more about: “A wine of elevated sophistication” 96 Points | Steve Leszczynski | Q Wine Reviews – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc 2015  »

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 – some may say it’s Australia’s answer to the right bank.

It is always great to see where a wine comes from and where it is headed,

 » Read more about: “A composed and fascinating wine, this Whalebone Vineyard is without doubt the best of Wrattonbully” 95 Points | Steve Leszczynski | Q Wine Reviews – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernets Merlot Franc 2021  »

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. Tea, rose bud, goji and pomegranate molasses. There is a heart of red fruit with surrounding coffee and mocha spice.

 » Read more about: “A wine that reverberates throughout your whole body” 96 Points | Shanteh Wale | Halliday Wine Companion – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernets Merlot Franc 2021  »

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 coursing through its fine, balanced structure. Has a nice red fruit character, with touches of blackcurrant and cherry,

 » Read more about: “Bright with energy and life coursing through its fine, balanced structure” 96 Points | Ray Jordan | Wine Pilot – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc 2015  »

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 of blending. Maturation was in French oak barriques, half of which were new, for twenty months.

 » Read more about: “An exquisite red which still has a good decade ahead of it” 96 Points | Ken Gargett | Wine Pilot – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc  2015  »

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 French oak barriques, half of which were new, before blending. Under cork, 2,000 cases were made.

 » Read more about: “A delicious red, certain to drink impressively for the next ten to fifteen years” 94 Points | Ken Gargett | Wine Pilot – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernets Merlot Franc 2021  »

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, with contributions from Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Shiraz. It has a delicious aroma, displaying bright red fruits with deeper mulberry and some nice blackcurrant characters,

 » Read more about: “A super elegant wine, stylish and most polished.” 95 Points | Ray Jordan | Wine Pilot – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernets Merlot Franc 2021  »

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 and elegant with purity and depth of fruit that’s been lovingly kissed by oak spice,

 » Read more about: “A glorious Aussie ‘Bordeaux’ blend from Wrattonbully” – Wine Worth Writing About – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernets Merlot Franc 2021  »

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 that battle was Brian Croser. It is poetic justice that saw him buy a vineyard on land that ceased to be Coonawarra as a result of the court case and became the Wrattonbully wine region.

 » Read more about: “Lovely, memorable and fitting” – 95 Points | Jeni Port | Wine Pilot – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernets Merlot Franc 2021  »

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 course, the role of Cabernet Sauvignon in this instance), especially the juiciness of the fruit which is still very evident and quite fresh.

 » Read more about: “Mixed with freshness and a slow developing complexity” – 94 Points | Jeni Port | Wine Pilot – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cab Franc 2015  »

The word exceptionalism was invented to describe the USA as an economic entity, or at least to describe the way it used to be. 

Now the word has morphed to apply to the whim of the weather gods for the 2025 vintage in South Australia. 

I have always advocated that every vintage is different and after 56 of them in South Australia and many elsewhere,

 » Read more about: Exceptionalism – 2025 Vintage Report  »

Whalebone Vineyard was first planted in 1974 as the Koppamurra Vineyard.

1974 was the peak of the real-estate frenzy in Coonawarra as the large wine companies of the era (Mildara, Penfolds, Wynns, Lindemans) outbid one another for the scarce resource of red soil over limestone on the recognised Coonawarra cigar shaped ridge.

 » Read more about: The Venerable Whalebone Vineyard  »

Here we have the pinnacle Chardonnay release from the first vineyard planted in the Piccadilly Valley since the 19th century. Restrained power is the term that comes to mind here. It’s tight and focussed, yielding enough aromatic presence to get you excited, but for the future more than the present. Grapefruit, white nectarine and white peach sit above cashew,

 » Read more about: “It’s tight and focussed.” – 96 points | Tom Kline | Wine Pilot – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2024  »

Named on account of the 1.5 metre spacing between vine rows. Fresh, tightly wound and elegant aromas of white peach and cedar kick things off, followed by green apple, Meyer lemon, peach blossom, nectarine pulp and cinnamon. There’s a taut and coy feel to the palate at this stage of its life, though with restrained power keen to unfurl in time.

 » Read more about: “Will shine following a decade in cellar.” – 95 points | Tom Kline | Wine Pilot – Tapanappa Tiers 1.5M Vineyard Chardonnay 2024  »

High quality cedar oak sits confidently here, melding with fresh cut nectarine, quince, peach skin, kumquat and red apple with some savoury cashew cream beneath. There’s a lot of impact aromatically thanks to good concentration and balance. The palate is fresh and precise in its fruit profile which mirrors the nose, cascading through the mouth with intensity and drive.

 » Read more about: “This is fulsome and fresh, powerful but elegant.” – 94 points | Tom Kline | Wine Pilot – Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2024  »

The original Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay planted in 1979 in the Piccadilly Valley was the first Adelaide Hills vineyard to unknown clones. 2024, though slightly warmer, was yet another cooler vintage in the run since 2020. Modest cropping of 4 tonnes to the hectare. French oak barrique (1/3 new) fermentation before barrel ageing until November of 2024.

 » Read more about: “There’s flesh, there’s tension, there’s drive.” – 96 points | Regan Drew | Vino Notebook – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2024  »

2024, though slightly warmer continued a run of cool vintages. French oak barriques (1/3 new) for fermentation (2 months through Autumn). Barrel aged on full lees until October 2024, before racking off and then a November bottling.

Pale lemon colour with green highlights. Class and nuance. White stone fruit, brioche, lemon/lime citrus, wet quartz stones,

 » Read more about: “It’s tense, tight and built for the ages.” – 95 points | Regan Drew | Vino Notebook – Tapanappa Tiers 1.5M Vineyard Chardonnay 2024  »

The Piccadilly Valley is ‘entry’ level for this exquisite range of Chardonnay. 2024 another cool vintage like the 4 before it, but marginally warmer with a modest crop of 4 tonnes per hectare on the 30 year old vines.

Medium-light straw with green highlights. Layered and complex. White chocolate, green apple, white nectarine,

 » Read more about: “Layered and complex.” – 94 points | Regan Drew | Vino Notebook – Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2024  »