Recognition

This, the third tier if you’ll excuse the pun, of the Tapanappa Chardies, is sourced from the Piccadilly Valley, more specifically an equal divide between the Mount Bonython and Pat and Ted’s vineyards. 2022 was another cooler vintage. The fruit was pressed and pumped to tank and then French oak barriques, a 1/3rd new, for fermentation and then aged on lees till September,

 » Read more about: An impressive chardonnay | 92 points | Ken Gargett – Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2022  »

Bright light yellow with a discreet wheaty, Weetbix, faintly malty bouquet, with excellent concentration of fruit flavour that’s focused and tensioned, with a clean dry finish replete with refreshing acidity. The finish lingers long and the aftertaste is satisfying and bright: a highly satisfying glass of chardonnay, with understated power, which also looks set for a bright future.

 » Read more about: A highly satisfying chardonnay | 96 points | Huon Hooke – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5M Chardonnay 2022  »

Light, bright yellow hue with a creamy, nutty, cashew and creamy lees bouquet, a hint of Weetbix, straightforward and youthful, the palate intense and long, refined and subtle. Very attractive wine and the price is right.

92 points 

 » Read more about: A very attractive wine | 92 points | Huon Hooke – Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2022  »

Very light yellow hue, a restrained style of chardonnay with a fresh, fruit-driven bouquet of lemon, nut and nougat aromas, while the palate is intense and piercing, deep, concentrated and powerful, with biscuity overtones and brightly refreshing and quite penetrating lemony acidity that powers a long finish. A superb and relatively fruit-driven chardonnay with a bright future 

97 points 

 » Read more about: A superb chardonnay with a bright future | 97 points | Huon Hooke – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022  »

 » Read more about: South Australia 2023 – a first-hand view  »

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, tonic water flavours, grilled nut, marzipan notes, chalky hint grippy textures and pure crisp acidity. Very good volume, richness, fruit complexity and mineral length. Drink now – 2030

96 points 

 » Read more about: Classical, beautifully balanced and multi-layered | 96 points | Andrew Caillard MW – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2022  »

Pale colour. Fresh lifted pear drop, white peach, lemon curd, grilled nut aromas. Well concentrated and mPale colour. Lifted grapefruit, nectarine, lemon curd aromas with tonic water, grilled almond notes. Well balanced and delicious drinking chardonnay with fresh sinuous grapefruit, nectarine, lemon curd flavours, some tonic water notes, fine lacy/ chalky textures, attractive mid palate creaminess/ density and fresh integrated minerally acidity.

 » Read more about: Well-balanced and delicious | 95 points | Andrew Caillard MW – Tapanappa Tiers 1.5m Vineyard Chardonnay 2022  »

Pale colour. Fresh lifted pear drop, white peach, lemon curd, grilled nut aromas. Well concentrated and minerally wine with ample stone fruit, tonic water, grilled nut flavours, fine chalky, touch al dente textures, very good mid -palate volume/ viscosity and integrated fresh crisp acidity. Touch of aniseed at the finish. Drink now – 2030 

94 points 

 » Read more about: Well concentrated and minerally wine | 94 points | Andrew Caillard MW – Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2022  »

Here’s a mature wine – ready to enjoy right now – that is also a current release from Brian Croser’s excellent Tapanappa stable of wines. Fresh and juicy, but also stylish and sophisticated, it is a blend of Australia’s two classic red varieties from two regions: the cabernet from the Whalebone Vineyard on the Limestone Coast and the shiraz grapes from Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills.

 » Read more about: Stylish and Sophisticated | Winsor Dobbin- Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz 2018  »

I looked at this over the course of 48 hours, by accident rather than by design, and I much preferred it with a bit of air in it. It’s driven by limey acidity and while its quality is clear from the outset, it really comes into its own once its pear flavours are allowed to reach full voice,

 » Read more about: A glorious Chardonnay | 95+ points | Campbell Mattinson – Tapanappa Tiers 1.5m Vineyard Chardonnay 2022  »

Wrattonbully, in South Australia’s Limestone Coast region, is home to two powerhouse wine families from opposite sides of the world now entwined by marriage. Sarah Ahmed chats with Australian wine legend Brian Croser and his son-in-law Xavier Bizot of the Bollinger Champagne house, and tastes through some recent releases.

Brian and Ann Croser with daughter Lucy and her husband Xavier Bizot

Bringing impetus to Croser’s bold pursuit of distinguished sites – first at Petaluma then Tapanappa – the Bizots have helped engineer a new Australian fine wine landscape in both Wrattonbully and Adelaide Hills.

 » Read more about: Croser & Bizot: a family vision in Wrattonbully  »

Sweet plum and strawberry aromas with dried citrus-peel undertones. Medium body with firm tannins and a linear and crisp finish. Lots of lemon-rind undertones. A little lean at the end. Drink now.

93 points

 » Read more about: A top Pinot Noir | 93 points | James Suckling – Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021  »

A juicy red with dried flowers, ripe strawberries and cedar. Some leather and tobacco, too. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins and a tangy and fresh finish. Drink now or hold.

93 points

 » Read more about: Elegant and Sophisticated | 93 points | James Suckling – Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard “Definitus” Pinot Noir 2018  »

Aromas of red and black currants, black cherries, rosemary stem and thyme. Medium- to full-bodied with silky, chewy tannins. Nicely defined red and black fruit on the palate. Fresh and articulate with a juicy finish. Drink or hold.

93 points

 » Read more about: An excellent example of Australia’s own red blend  | 93 points | James Suckling – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz 2018  »

Bright and youthful in the glass. Complex aromas of cedar, tobacco, blackcurrant, dark cherry, bramble aA whale-sized price-tag, but given energy inflation, in time it will be less than a KW of electricity. At any time it is positively lovely and likely the best merlot and best ‘value’ $90 wine around.

9.7/10

 » Read more about: Likely the best merlot and best “value” $90 wine around | 9.7/10 | Max Crus – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc 2018  »

Medium crimson. Red cherry pastille, hint bush garrigue with touches of vanilla. Round and supple with red cherry, red liquorice flavours, fine chalky / lacy textures and attractive mineral length. Minerally, structured and needs some time to develop. Drink now – 2028 12.5% alc 

92 points 

 » Read more about: Minerally, structured and needs some time to develop | 92 points | Andrew Caillard MW – Tapanappa Foggy Hills Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021  »

Pale colour. Intense vanilla, marzipan, lime cordial aromas with tonic water notes. Richly flavoured lime cordial, vanilla, grapefruit flavours, fine lacy/chalky textures and long fresh acidity. Lovely precision and mineral length. Drink now – 2034

96 points 

 » Read more about: Lovely precision and mineral length | 96 points | Andrew Caillard MW – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5m Chardonnay 2021  »

Pale colour. Lovely, developed honey, grapefruit, lime aromas with hints of SO2. Restrained, almost backward wine with grapefruit, lime, apple fruits, fine al dente chewy textures, some underlying nutty oak. Finishes minerally and long. Very tight. Drink 2024 – 2034 

93 points 

 » Read more about: Finishes mineral and long | 93 points | Andrew Caillard MW – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2021  »

From Brian Croser’s prized Piccadilly Valley vineyard, there’s a lot going on here in terms of white stone fruit, chalky palate feels, and subtle spice notes. All class, and maybe hard to track down – must be something about Hills Chardonnay! Others from the same stable will also delight.

 » Read more about: There’s a lot going on here | Tony Love – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5m Chardonnay 2021  »

What these wines unequivocally showed is that the Croser vision for grand Australian wines has come to reality.

Image by Milton Wordley

The sharp-minded, deliberate and controversial Brian Croser has been a forceful and polarising advocate of Australia’s fine wine agenda for several decades. His technical brilliance, work ethic and ambitions have inspired excellence,

 » Read more about: Tapanappa with The Vintage Journal  »

 » Read more about: Gold Medal | The Global Chardonnay Masters 2022 – Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2021  »

We are very excited to announce the Tiers Vineyard 2021 Chardonnay was listed in the Drinks Business TOP 20 Chardonnays of 2022 after winning GOLD MEDAL at the 2022 Drinks Business Global Chardonnay Masters in December!

Already a benchmark producer of Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, Tapanappa’s consistent Gold-medal-winning performance in this competition proves that it’s not only top of the pile in Australia,

 » Read more about: TOP 20 Chardonnay of 2022 – Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2021  »

James Halliday’s Top 100 wines for 2022 have been revealed! 

We are thrilled to announce our 2019 Foggy Hill Vineyard DEFINITUS Pinot Noir has made the prestigious list.

2019 Foggy Hill DEFINITUS Pinot Noir

Bramble, briar and black tea aromatics set the scene for a very complex pinot that needs encouragement to release its perfume.

 » Read more about: 2019 Foggy Hill Vineyard DEFINITUS Pinot Noir has made James Halliday’s TOP 100  »

WBM, September/October 2022 Issue

SAM (Southern Annular Modulation) is determined to go south again as the Australian spring arrives. In southeastern Australia that means another summer of cool south-easterly winds, generated deep in the Great Southern Ocean, that arrive on our southern shores at the top of the counterclockwise revolving high-pressure systems as they transit from west to east.

 » Read more about: And it was all yellow… and green and orange and red and purple  »