Recognition

Burgundy, France, is the epicenter of the Chardonnay grape’s world, but the world itself has taken on this white grape as it’s own. Chardonnay is one the most widely grown grape varieties in the world and can be found pretty …

Brian Croser is the man who founded pioneering winery, Petaluma, the first in the Adelaide Hills. He is known as Australia’s original ‘terroirist’ for his unrelenting pursuit of his countryman, Dr AC Kelly’s vision of 1867 that, in the great …

First-class chardonnay from the Piccadilly Valley in South Australia – as good a demonstration as there is of the quality being achieved in some of the vineyards in Australia chosen for their combination of cool climate and suitable soils. This …

Australia sells more wine than any other country in the influential UK wine market. But that doesn’t mean that it enjoys the best reputation? Its wines are frequently dismissed as being over-ripe, over-alcoholic and over-exposed.

And although Australia itself is …

Bright pale green-straw; as expected, an immaculately proportioned and balanced wine with great drive and impeccable line; all the vineyard and winemaker inputs are seamlessly welded, making flavour descriptors unnecessary.…

Brian Croser, partnered by the Cazes family of Lynch-Bages, and Champagne Bollinger, is behind this pure, precise wine, the star of my Chardonnay tasting at May’s Decanter New World Fine Wine Encounter.…

Very youthful and gangly, but an excellent chardonnay in the waiting. It’s spicy and floral, with a waxy presence of melon and grapefruit, apple and pear, with undertones of stonefruit, fig and creamy vanilla oak. Long and chalky, it’s austere …

From the winemaker’s family vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley of the Adelaide Hills, this is indisputably one of Australia’s finest chardonnays. Barrel-fermented and lees-stirred, it has wonderful varietal character with superb fruit assisted by subtle oak.

Drink with free-range roast …

Two of the country’s finest chardonnays come from this Adelaide Hills vineyard – the outstanding 2004 Petaluma Tiers and this sublime white. It’s fine, subtle yet complex with nutmeggy oak and purity of fruit. Smoothly viscous and tight, finishing with …

There are only a handful of wines in Australia where just one word will do to convey the seriousness and romance of the contents of the bottle? When Brian Croser planted the Tiers vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley in the …

This wine is improving incrementally even dure the two months since its release. Vanilla pod, almond meal, star anise and fresh orange rind converge in incredible concentration and persistence. It’s very Burgundian in shape, with ultra-fine, minerally acidity and sensational …

Former Petaluma chief winemaker Brian Croser has linked with the family that owns Bollinger Champagnes, and the Cazes family of Bordeaux, to produce site-specific Tapanappa wines of the highest quality. They come from the Whalebone vineyard in Wrattonbully, Croser’s family …

Made by Brian Croser, the Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay comes from his family’s vineyard in the Adelaide Hills. Every chardonnay technique has been applied in the making, yet the power of the fruit remains. It is focused and pure, with an …

Bright pale green-strawl as expected, an immaculately proportioned and balanced wine with great drive and impeccable line; all the vineyard and winemaker inputs are seamlessly welded, making flavour descriptors unnecessary.

96 Points…

…Brian Croser’s Tappanappa, Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay 2007 Adelaide Hills was a tense, introvert and lime-scented wine…

Inquiring subsequently about how exactly the Tappanappa wine had been made, I found that the yeast had been a single strain isolated from a …

The Tapanappa collaboration brings together local legend Brian Croser and French wine identities Jean-Michel Cazes and Arnould d’Hautefeuille. The result is high-quality wines such as this smoothly complex Adelaide Hills chardonnay. Stone fruit, grapefruit, mealy notes and nutty oak combine …

Brian Croser has made a beautiful Adelaide Hills chardonnay, delicate and understated but with great flavour complexity and refined texture. Bright and clean with grapefruit, nutty and smoky nuances, properly dry and focused.…

Croser’s wine, from the Tiers Vineyard (planted 1979) is an altogether more subtle wine ? luxurious but with finesse and a seamless integration of the fruit and barrel ferment and maturation elements. It just needs time in bottle.…

Certain politicians like to use the word “un-Australian” in a derogatory sense. I’ll use it here in a very positive way. May Australian chardonnays are driven by fruit at the expense of complexity. Relatively few combine those two key aspects …

A superb chardonnay by maestro Brian Croser. It’s about understated complexity; fruit, oak, malolactic and lees characters are in harmony, with concentration and finesse. All it needs is time; if it evolves like the ’05 it will be great.…

Notably sweet, smooth texture. Just the merest hint of coffee and spice (perhaps because of the Vosges oak used? ? new and old). Good acidity but texture is really is its strong suit, from vines planted in 1979. Some creamy …