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This high-altitude Fleurieu Peninsula wine is both exquisitely balanced and very Burgundian. It's a medium-bodied wine, concentrated, but with everything exquisitely in place. Matured in French oak barriques, it has dark cherry, brambly and savoury notes on the palate and some fleshy nuances.
And the evolution of this wine continues. Sealed now under screwcap, it has a pale, lilting red-purple colour in the glass and smells instantly of bright, fresh pinot noir, with cherry and strawberry fruits framed up by toasty, cedary oak; some musky fragrance and charcuterie too. The palate's fresh and juicy, with acidity featuring amid fine, smooth tannin structure and lively wild ed fruit flavour.
93 points / Two glasses
The latest Tapanappa pinot noir release from winemaking veteran Brian Croser's Foggy Hill Vineyard - a cool site at 350 metres above sea level on the Fleurieu Peninsula - is both exquisitely balanced and scarily Burgundian. It's a medium-bodied wine, concentrated, but with everything in place. It has dark cherry, brambly and savoury notes on the palate, some fleshy nuances and plenty of length on the finish. And, joy of joys, it is bottled under screw cap.
A gorgeous wine from close to the Southern Ocean, Brian Croser's Fleurieu vineyard named for its summer and autumn fogs. The 2010 growing season was a warm year, so this wine is deep in fruit character, with hints of star anise, tea and, wrapped up in the aromas, a lovely floral lift all beautifully complex. The palate is youthful and so very lively, with an impressive balance of acid and tannin.Deep and lingering flavours of dark cherry to finish. Terrific.
Value: Class
Food: Spicy squab
Rating: 4.5/5
Original article: http://www.couriermail.com.au/life/fooddrink/wine-excellent-14-pinot-and...
Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2010
Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Fleurieu Peninsula Pinot Noir 2010
In 2001 Lion Nathan acquired Petaluma (founded in 1976 by Brian Croser). But Croser retained control of the Tiers vineyard, a key source of Petaluma chardonnay. The wine lives on under the Tapanappa label, a joint venture of the Croser family and French families behind Chateau Lynch-Bages and Bollinger Champagne. The finely structured wine delivers juicy, full, ripe-peach varietal flavours, combined with the nutty, spicy characters of fermentation and maturation in oak barrels. I rate Tapanappa’s ripe, fine-boned 2010 pinot noir as the best yet from this new vineyard, planted by Croser in 2003 – inspired by the very cool maritime climate.
Brian Croser is the man behind the iconic Australian winery Petaluma - now part of the Lion Nathan Group. He moved on to create Tapanappa with the Bizot Family of Bollinger fame and the Cazes family from Chateau Lynch-Bages. Croser chose an ultra-cool, maritime site called Foggy Hill to plant Pinot Noir for this deliciously drinkable red, which expresses itself with fresh floral aromas of redcurrant jelly and crushed strawberries with a touch of wild herbs. The palate is sweetly savoury, the finish long and ethereal.
The bouquet offers seductive red fruit, cardamon and a savoury herbaceous, bramble note; the palate is finely laced with red fruits, with a surprising and refreshing level of fine grained tannins; soft on entry and firm to conclude, will benefit with a few years of ageing.
Rating: 94 points / 5 goblets
Drink By: 2016
With a highly aromatic and complex aroma akin to a ‘warm vintage’ Volnay, this is an aromatically hedonistic, Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot with a cunning, middle-weight palate. The classic, garnet Pinot hue is spot on in this wine and it hasn’t been allowed to put on too much weight making it a transcendental delight. Firm on the finish and only just peeking out of its shell, you can happily swirl the ‘09 until this glorious 2010 takes over and commands your undivided attention mid-way through 2013.
From eight-year-old vines at Parawa, within cooee of the Southern Ocean, Brian Croser has steered what he calls a "most fastidious variety" from this warmish vintage into a fruit-driven style though never leaving its silky textural pleasures. Superbly balanced with long-finishing spice and richness.
94 points
Food: Moroccan lamb
Croser's quest to make great pinot continues apace with this dark cherry-scented style, some bergamot and Earl Grey tea, sweet earthy depth, lighter perfume and bright red fruits. The palate is supple and smooth, with a composed bed of open-weave tannins flowing effortlessly and carrying ripe-cherry and berry pastry flavours, finishing precise and tangy. Lovely wine.
Score: 93 points, two glasses
