Tapanappa 2012 Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc is absolutely typical of this unique blend and reflects its synergy with the special terroir of the Whalebone Vineyard.
The wine is translucent and vibrant in colour and the aromas are floral and of fine leather, cedar and spice. This is an elegant wine of great fruit and tannin finesse contributed by the Cabernet Franc built around a dense core of sweet fruit from the Merlot.
2018 Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay is a ripe fruit expression of the unique Piccadilly Valley terroir from a warm vintage.
Pale lemon in colour, 2018 Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay has a ripe peach and fig aroma and flavours to match. The subtle complexity of marzipan and vanilla oak
complements the fresh fruit.
The hallmark Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay texture is followed by a long after taste with a slight savoury quince finish. The Piccadilly Valley has clearly confirmed its status as
home to “distinguished sites” and the 2018 Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay “is an exquisite expression of a unique Australian terroir.”
2020 Foggy Hill Pinot Noir is a low-crop, cool vintage expression of the Foggy Hill terroir.
The wine is translucent with a purple-red hue. The aroma is floral with dark plum and blueberry fruits and the faint spice of stalks.There is an exotic Chinse 5 spice aroma and the oak provides a complexing char note and all of this is reflected in the flavour of the wine. The flavours are rich and complex and the tannins noticeable but refined.
2020 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir is the reflection of the perfectly ripe fruit from which it was made and is a “typical expression of the unique Foggy Hill terroir.”
This 2018 Definitus special bottling of Foggy Hill Pinot Noir has intense cerise colour. The aroma is of complex, ripe dark fruits, black and blueberries, faint cassis and hints of floral notes. The flavours are rich, ripe and dense with plum to compliment the characteristic Foggy Hill earthy, spicey complexity. The tannins are fine but pervasive and the warm year 2018 Foggy Hill “Definitus” will benefit from a decade or longer of bottle age.
The Whalebone Vineyard terroir exerts its strength in the Cabernet Shiraz blend as a combination of smokey Eucalypt, anise and fresh earth aromas and flavours.
The Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2006 Cabernet Shiraz has the fruit sweet core of ripe mulberry and blackberry provided by Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz in the slightly warmer than average 2006 vintage. The Cabernet Franc provides a floral aroma note and silky tannin texture and has much greater influence than the 10% component suggests. The 2006 vintage is notable for its definite but fine-grained tannins.
Dishes based on spring lamb lightly roasted with thyme or rare pigeon breast naturally balance and amplify the structure and flavour of Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2006 Cabernet Shiraz.
Although 2016 Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Franc-Merlot is from the warmest vintage at Wrattonbully, it is fresh, elegant and ethereal. The aroma is dominated by the floral and spice of Cabernet Franc, red berries and only a hint of Merlot’s plum pudding richness.
The varietal complexity is underpinned by an earthy, smoky Eucalypt bouquet typical of the Whalebone terroir. The flavours are fresh and lively with an underlying varietal complexity.
Despite the warmth of the 2016 vintage the Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Franc-Merlot has the elegance and finesse expected of this right bank varietal blend. The tannins are fine and grainy providing a savoury and long finish.
2014 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir is the product of a slightly warmer than average vintage from the very cool Foggy Hill Parawa site.
2014 vintage was defined by the poor fruit set and low yields in an otherwise perfect growing season for Pinot Noir.
The colour is dense by Pinot Noir standards reflecting the sunny vintage effect on berry pigmentation and the effect of plucking the leaves from around bunches before veraison.
The fruit aroma is of spicy, sappy, ripe cherries with the floral notes that contribute to Pinot’s “peacock’s tail”. 2014 has contributed one of the most aromatic Foggy Hill Pinot Noirs yet.
The palate similarly has intense fruit flavours that persist reflecting the aromas but with very definite tannin structure that provides a savoury finish.
2014 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir is “a pure expression of the unique Parawa, Fleurieu Peninsula terroir”.
2007 Tapanappa Wrattonbully Cabernet Shiraz has the very ripe fruit flavours and texture of this exceptionally small and early vintage. Despite the ripeness the alcohol is in balance and the silky ripe tannins meld with the ripe fruit flavours.
The 2007 Tapanappa Cabernet Shiraz retains the elegant structure and the earthy, anise and Eucalypt smoke flavours of the Joanna, Wrattonbully terroir.
2007 Tapanappa Wrattonbully Cabernet-Shiraz is “a pure expression of the unique Joanna Wrattonbully terroir”.
Because of the small crop, 2019 Tiers 1.5M Chardonnay is exquisitely concentrated. Pale green/lemon in colour, the aroma is of white peach, canteloupe and the faint cinnamon and vanilla of Fench oak.
Typical of Tiers, the wine has a significant texture and is a riper and more advanced expression of the vineyard because of the earlier ripening Dijon clones..
Mellow and ripe the wine still has the finishing acid of the very cool climate Tiers Vineyard Again a light grape fruit bitterness lends a suitable end to the sweet fruit core of the wine.
2019 Tapanappa Tiers 1.5M Chardonnay is “a very age worthy expression of this unique Australian terroir”.
The Whalebone Vineyard terroir exerts its strength in the Cabernet Shiraz blend as a combination of smokey Eucalypt, anise and fresh earth aromas and flavours.
The Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2006 Cabernet Shiraz has the fruit sweet core of ripe mulberry and blackberry provided by Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz in the slightly warmer than average 2006 vintage. The Cabernet Franc provides a floral aroma note and silky tannin texture and has much greater influence than the 10% component suggests. The 2006 vintage is notable for its definite but fine-grained tannins.
Dishes based on spring lamb lightly roasted with thyme or rare pigeon breast naturally balance and amplify the structure and flavour of Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2006