Recognition

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  »

Bright and youthful in the glass. Complex aromas of cedar, tobacco, blackcurrant, dark cherry, bramble and spice. Lovely, pure and precise on the palate, mid to full-bodied, long, layered and complex. Plenty of red and dark fruits, textured tannins, cedar and crunchy acidity. Built for the long haul.

95 points

 » Read more about: Built for the long haul | 95 points | The Real Review – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc 2018  »

The Tapanappa 2021 Chardonnay is layered with concentrated Chardonnay flavor: curry leaf, yellow peach, salted preserved lemons and pink grapefruit, even. The phenolics in the mouth are grippy and attractive, and the wine fairly streams over the tongue and spools out to a long and lingering finish. Yes! Excellent.

94 points

 » Read more about: Layered with concentrated Chardonnay flavor | 94 points | Robert Parker Wine Advocate – Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2021  »

This 2021 Chardonnay Tiers Vineyard 1.5m is really delicious. The phenolics that curve in on every angle of the mouth are grippy and chalky and get a firm grasp onto the preserved lemon and salted peach flavors that blossom in the mouth. The wine is resplendent with fruit and spice, and the finish lingers on and on.

 » Read more about: What a pleasure | 95 points | Robert Parker Wine Advocate – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5m Chardonnay 2021  »

This 2021 Chardonnay Tiers Vineyard is a sensational wine. Let me tell you about the vineyard, and then we’ll come back to the glass. The Tiers vineyard was planted in the Picadilly Valley in the Adelaide Hills by the Croser family in 1979. The vineyard lays at an elevation of around 450 meters (1,477 feet) above sea level at its highest point,

 » Read more about: A sensational wine | 97+ points | Robert Parker Wine Advocate – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2021  »

Brian Croser is a chardonnay maestro. The wine was aged in one-third new oak with seven months on yeast lees. Intensity is the key, with peach and honeydew melon flavours, a lush texture and an impressive finish.

 » Read more about: A lush texture and an impressive finish | Peter Bourne – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2021  »

 » Read more about: Silver Medals | Great Australian Red 2022 – 2017 Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz  »

(1330 HDD vs 1331 HDD). More HDD measurements! Every vineyard! GIVE US THE STATS. Seriously,

93 Points

 » Read more about: An initially seductive wine with surprising structure underneath | 93 points | Angus Hughson – Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021  »

The 2019 vintage of Definitus is a highly seductive release bursting with fruit flavour, particularly in the dark fruit spectrum. There is a delicious and powerful blend of dark cherry and fruits of the forest that offer quite a forceful start. It is also well matched with spicy star anise and a strong dose of French oak which add attractive detail.  » Read more about: Will definitely offer plently more in the coming years | 92 Points | Angus Hughson – Foggy Hill Vineyard “DEFINITUS” Pinot Noir 2019  »

Deep coloured, this is a decadent yet complex Merlot blend with lashings of rich blackberry, chocolate, cedar, black olive and earthy aromas wrapped up in a blanket of high quality French oak. It’s bold too, with impressive impact of sweet fruit flavours before a firm bed of tannins rise up to support a long and strong finish.

 » Read more about: A decadent yet complex Merlot blend | 93 points | Angus Hughson – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc 2018  »

This a spectacular Aussie claret style; poised, focused and built for the long haul with its powerful blackberry, chocolate, blackcurrant, gravel aromas that are muscular and dense. Fantastic volume of fruit follows but all kept in check by layers of firm tannin and a gentle burst of acidity. A cloak of high quality oak sits well in what is a robust style which finishes tight and long.

 » Read more about: A spectacular Aussie Claret style | 97 points | Angus Hughson – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz 2018  »

65/35% merlot/cabernet franc. Matured 18 months in French oak barriques (50% new). A warm year and a generous expression of fruit which sets the scene for some enjoyable drinking. Redcurrant, black cherry, fennel seed, red licorice, raspberry and pepper work with sinewy tannins and vanillin oak to reveal a complex whole. Finishes firm and would love more time in bottle.

 » Read more about: A complex whole | 94 points | Jeni Port – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc 2018  »

86/14% cabernet sauvignon/shiraz. Matured 18 months in French oak barriques (50% new). The 2018 vintage was the second warmest on record after 2016. A ripe year has undoubtedly imparted more warmth and roundness to this wine, but it remains resolutely medium bodied and finely tuned. Fragrant with cabernet’s wild berries, violet and bush herbs in the lead role.

 » Read more about: Medium bodied and finely tuned | 95 points | Jeni Port – Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz 2018  »

WBM, July / August Issue

The word sustainability buzzes around the internet incessantly and now rings in my ears, replacing that persistent Leonard Cohen anthem as my new ‘ear worm’. I am about to tread in a place that better angels would avoid, but there are some things about sustainability that need saying.

First and foremost,

 » Read more about: Let’s Not Forget Economic Sustainability  »

There’s a lot of spice here, and autumnal effects, and general savouriness/earthiness in there with the fruit. I thought at first that it was peddling a bit too hard, but strangely enough the wine seemed to tighten and become more structural as it breathed, rather than the other way around, and as it did so I was turned more and more in its favour.  » Read more about: This will develop beautifully | 94 Points | Campbell Mattinson – Foggy Hill Vineyard “DEFINITUS” Pinot Noir 2019  »

Barrel fermented in French oak (33% new), left on lees until bottled in January 2022. A chardonnay masterclass from a master that brings complexity and concentration with an utterly irresistible liveliness. Beautifully worked flinty aromas, grapefruit, lime zest, stone fruits and nougat. Superfine sherbet-like acidity works the tastebuds alongside a wealth of citrus and stone fruits with terrific concentration and weight.

 » Read more about: A Chardonnay masterclass | 95 points | Jeni Port – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2021  »

The use of 1.5m in the wine’s title refers to its French-inspired close-planted 1.5m row spacing in the vineyard. The wine is regularly defined by its racy acidity, making it a different personality to its Tiers sibling. If you love acidity – and I do – it’s a perfect foil for the wine’s bright lemon,

 » Read more about: It’s all here, you just need time | 94 points | Jeni Port – Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5m Chardonnay 2021  »

A quality chardonnay maker and a quality vintage adds up to something quite exciting. Pristine with layers of citrus, honeydew melon, stone fruit and plenty of tangy, fresh acidity to give it zing, this is definitely on the riper end of the spectrum but it wears it well. Seamless and building in texture, it’s incredibly moreish now.

 » Read more about: Something quite exciting | 93 points | Wine Companion – Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2021  »

Exotic, dense, sapid smelling. Iced white peach kernel. There’s a just-milled Egyptian Gold flour fruitiness about it. So, so dense. Plenty of fruit concentration evident on the palate too, although the flavours themselves are reserved and primal — like the apple and blackberry of a serious, ‘grower’ Blanc de Blancs. This has real extract, and lingering white stone fruit kernel among sea saltiness to finish.

 » Read more about: Exotic, dense, sapid smelling | Tim White | 2019 Tiers Vineyard 1.5M Chardonnay  »

It’s been another rough week here at Graham HQ, which means another noticeable lack of bottles opened. The wine sample department doth spilleth over, now extending from cupboard to a stack of boxes in the kitchen. Anyway, this is the correct way to ease back into it – the strong new release Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir 2021.  » Read more about: Bright and effortless | 18/20 | Andrew Graham – Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021  »

Bright, light-medium ruby-purple colour, the aromas fragrant and raspberry, strawberry tinged, while the wine is light bodied and softly textured, the tannins positive, powdery and cleansing the finish. Good fruit purity and it has backbone. It should mature in a positive direction for several years, adding more complexity.

90 Points

 » Read more about: It has backbone | 90 points | Huon Hooke – Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021  »

Medium depth of colour, still bright and fresh with a tinge of purple at the rim. The bouquet is spicy, whole-bunchy and quite complex, forest-floor and root-vegetable nuances chiming in with the red fruits and finished with a twist of bitter Italian herbs. The tannins refresh the finish and add to persistence, which is long-lasting. (20% whole-bunch,  » Read more about: Long lasting | 93 Points | Huon Hooke – Foggy Hill Vineyard “DEFINITUS” Pinot Noir 2019  »