Recognition

A full-bodied red based on the quintessential Bordeaux Right Bank prototype, this is rich yet fresh; forceful yet somehow savoury and while reflective of a warm, dry year manifest as salubrious dark fruit tones, bitter chocolate, mocha oak (20 months; 50% French) and thicker-framed tannins than the norm, perhaps, they drag the flavours long. Textural.

 » Read more about: 2016 Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Franc Merlot – 95 points, Gold  »

A very good example of the union between place and variety, the richness of the fruit flavours bringing blackcurrant and blackberry together. Then cigar box and polished tannins come into play on the perfectly balanced palate.

 » Read more about: 2016 Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz – 96, Gold  »

An elite microcosm of the Foggy Hill site. The best strip, so to speak. I prefer this to the ’17. More integrated, compact, layered and detailed. The tension, curtailing the ripe and inherently sweet fruit. The oak, tannic extract and judicious whole bunch amalgamating as a finely tuned structural skein, corralling the billowing sweet berry fruit,

 » Read more about: 2018 Definitus Pinot Noir – 96 points, Gold  »

A broad patina of sous-bois, pickled cherry and fecund strawberry, aged judiciously in French oak (30%). Silky, with a gentle rasp of herb-inflected tannins and saline maritime acidity.

 » Read more about: 2017 Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir – 94 points, Silver  »

Founded on the philosophy of fealty to distinguished single sites, this juicy riesling hails from the meagre granitic souls of the 50yo Bartholomeus Vineyard. Pink grapefruit pulp, bath salts and lemon rind notes cascade along a gentle phenolic waft and juicy acid rails. This is ripe and luscious, eschewing contemporary trends toward earlier harvest windows and brittle acidity.

 » Read more about: 2018 Eden Valley Riesling – 95 points, Gold  »

The warm season is certainly reflected in this wine, with honey, fig and even brulee, all finely balanced by citrussy acidity. Enjoyable drink now style.

 » Read more about: 2018 Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay – 94 points, Silver  »

Brian Croser’s ode to his halcyon youth when California first convinced him that high quality chardonnay was indeed possible outside of Burgundy. This rich, fully flared chardonnay hails from a younger plot of the famed Tiers vineyard, tended lower to the ground and planted to earlier ripening French clones at tighter densities. This encourages competition among vines and with that,

 » Read more about: 2018 Tiers Vineyard 1.5M Chardonnay – 94 points, Silver  »

This is a spectacular chardonnay, eschewing malolactic in the name of precision and freshness, while sacrificing nothing in the way of flavour and textural detail in doing so. A reductive riff of gunflint segues to notes of white fig, honeydew melon, nectarine and creamed cashew. A chassis of mineral and bright acidity carry the flavours long and broad, chaperoned by high class oak that is nestled into the fray.

 » Read more about: 2018 Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay – 97 points, Gold  »

If you’ve got elite fruit power, don’t be afraid to show it. This has an Olympic athlete’s body: big frame, strong muscle, yet supple. The palate gently flexes a range of flavours through the long ride – stonefruit orchard, a bite of fleshy pear, golden apples, lemon pith. Completely seamless…

 » Read more about: Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2018 – 97 points  »

I haven’t read the press notes on this wine but 2020 in the Adelaide Hills was an interesting time, no doubt. There’s plenty of fruit power here. And texture. And form. It feels powerful and well honed and, indeed, has a quartz-like aspect to it. Yellow peach, grapefruit, nectarine, woodsmoke and cedar characters shoot convincingly through.

 » Read more about: “This makes an impression” 2020 Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay  »

The chardonnay vines on the Tiers Vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley are all now well over 30 years old though some were planted in the late 1970s. This is an intense glide of beautiful chardonnay flavour. It had me hooked straight up. There’s an amount of struck match character here too, for the record, though the pear,

 » Read more about: “It had me hooked straight up” 2020 The Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay  »

It’s a firm, fragrant, spice-riddled pinot noir with blueberry and macerated cherry notes shot through with aromatic herb notes. In fact it’s quite earthen, almost beetroot-like, with a sweetness to the finish in the context of its dry/earthen style. This is a pretty impressive wine it has to be said. Different in its Australian context.

 » Read more about: “A pretty impressive wine” – 2019 Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir  »

There are four hectares of pinot noir growing on the Foggy Hill vineyard; this is from a one-hectare strip. It’s planted at a density of 4444 vines/hectare, using clones 115 and 777, all planted on rootstock.

Firm, ripe and convincing. Cedarwood oak shows keenly but fruit-derived flavours are yet myriad. Dry tobacco, garden herbs,

 » Read more about: 2018 Foggy Hill Vineyard “DEFINITUS” Pinot Noir  »

Lots going on here. Huge perfume of ripe plum, sage, violets, pot pourri, cedar. The palate is plush, jubey, lush, soft, lots of ripe fruit, a lick of minty green herbs, some rose hip tea and a late wash of feathery tannins and malt. Bold mouthful, lots of excitement, plenty of grunt and yet balance and class.

 » Read more about: “A lavish wine” – 2017 Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc  »

Seaspray, seaweed scents, a dusting of clove, cassis, some eucalyptus too. Evocative perfume. Dark fruit flavours, more of the salty, seaweed thing to taste, some saltbush greenery too, chewy, clove-y oak laid on with late coming tannins building to a nice chew. Good concentration, flow, suppleness, though a bit dry and tangy on the finish.

 » Read more about: “Wrattonbully the hero here”- 2017 Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz  »

Sour cherry and dark fruit profile, touch more of the savoury – almost hedgerow, stem like – than I necessarily recall. For that depth of aromatics, it carries a lightness to itself; silken in its flow across the palate and not sacrificing length nor depth of flavour. 

Tannin is exemplary: both fine and minerally.

 » Read more about: “A quiet achiever, needs time or cellaring” – 2019 Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir  »

Brian Croser’s Fleurieu Peninsula Pinot has evolved quite a bit over its existence, the style reaching for more delicacy every vintage. It doesn’t always get there, but the trade-off is a wine with no shortage of power. It’s easy to overlook the subtlety with this 2019 vintage release too. The nose has a distinct Pinosity complete with a little leaf litter and loads of almost glace red fruit.

 » Read more about: “Classy Wine” – 2019 Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir  »

“It’s young and will be even better next year” – 2020 Tiers Vineyard 1.5M Chardonnay

Light yellow colour. The nose is reductive, smoky matchstick, a kiss of oak too, in balance. Small flowers, quite lovely fruit-driven aromas. The palate is soft and round and refined, tapering a bit towards the back. The acid is a trifle firm,

 » Read more about: 2020 Tiers Vineyard 1.5M Chardonnay  »

“Potential Plus” – 2020 Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay

Light straw colour. Cashew nut, straw, biscuit and creamy lees aromas, restrained and fresh and delicate, but extremely intense and concentrated on the middle palate. The acidity is searing, a trifle domineering perhaps, but will easily be absorbed by any food. Long, long persistence. Potential plus.

 » Read more about: 2020 Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay  »

Brian Croser reports on the 2021 vintage, which he describes as ‘perfection in a sea of uncertainty’.

In South Australia we have just completed one of the very best vintages of my 51-vintage career.

Against a background of global social tumult, roiling sickness and death in India and other developing nations,

 » Read more about: South Australia 2021 – near perfect  »

With Spring approaching this 20 March, white wines may begin to take an edge this time of year. Whether looking for crisp and refreshing styles or complex and full bodied, South Australia’s top-scoring white wines from the 2020 Decanter World Wine Awards seem to encompass it all…

2018 Tapanappa, Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay, Piccadilly Valley (Adelaide Hills)
Rich and smoky on the nose,

 » Read more about: “South Australia’s top-scoring white wines: 20 to try” – 2018 Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay  »

Deep red colour with a trace of purple and the bouquet has a gun-smoky, black olive, roasted-fruit bouquet, the palate full-bodied and chewy with assertive, slightly bitter tannins that leave a hefty chew on the aftertaste. A quite heavy, thick-textured red that deserves time and really needs some ageing. Big extraction, bulky and lacking elegance.

 » Read more about: “It’s a big youthful wine that will certainly reward with time and age” – 2017 Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc  »

With Spring approaching this 20 March, white wines may begin to take an edge this time of year. Whether looking for crisp and refreshing styles or complex and full bodied, South Australia’s top-scoring white wines from the 2020 Decanter World Wine Awards seem to encompass it all…

2018 Tapanappa, Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay, Piccadilly Valley (Adelaide Hills)
Rich and smoky on the nose,

 » Read more about: “South Australia’s top-scoring white wines: 20 to try” – 2018 Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay  »

All class. Layers to bouquet and palate, inward concentration, exceptional length and fine tuned oak/lees work implicit. It offers nectarine to marzipan and cinnamon spice. The palate shows richness but freshness of acidity with a core of flint-like minerality. Righteous stuff.
94 points

 » Read more about: “Righteous stuff. All class” – 2016 Tiers Vineyard 1.5M Chardonnay  »