Whalebone Vineyard was first planted in 1974 as the Koppamurra Vineyard.
1974 was the peak of the real-estate frenzy in Coonawarra as the large wine companies of the era (Mildara, Penfolds, Wynns, Lindemans) outbid one another for the scarce resource of red soil over limestone on the recognised Coonawarra cigar shaped ridge. They were envisaging the El Dorado of red wine, a region capable of producing world class red wine at high crop levels using irrigation and mechanisation to produce high priced wine at minimal cost.
A band of young professional friends from Adelaide wanted to join the party and produce their own world class red wine from Coonawarra.
It became obvious they could not obtain or afford land on the Coonawarra cigar, so they explored the Joanna region just north of Coonawarra where there was an abundance of red soil over limestone being used for grazing sheep and cattle.
What they didn’t realise was the geology of the Joanna region is the 34-million-year-old limestone of the Mount Gambier formation lifted to surface by the Kanawinka Fault. The red soil over limestone at Joanna is totally different in age and composition to the red soil over limestone at Coonawarra.
Coonawarra limestone is a mere 1 million years-old, a stranded old shoreline left high and dry by the cycles of ice-age freeze and thaw and the gradual uplift of the plain on which it sits, extending to the west and the Great Southern Ocean.
The Koppamurra Vineyard was developed in 1974 by the band of inspired amateurs planting the Bordeaux varieties so suited to the region’s climate, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. They didn’t prepare the ground for planting by ripping through the hard limestone cap under the red soil, forcing the vines to slowly explore the natural fissures and cracks, a process that constrained grape production and limited vine vigour. It took 6 years to grow a first commercial crop at Koppamurra Vineyard.
Enter Geoffrey Weaver, my school-day friend, a fellow Ag. Science graduate and aspiring winemaker. Unable to obtain Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra, Geoffrey purchased some of the first crop from Koppamurra Vineyard in 1980, a cool and excellent vintage.
Geoffrey commissioned the two-year-old Petaluma winery to make the wine as he instructed. Despite considerable logistical difficulties, the 1980 Cabernet Sauvignon from Koppamurra Vineyard was made and bottled under Geoffrey’s label. It was an outstanding wine that still in 2025 opens beautifully.
Meanwhile, I was busy making Cabernet Sauvignon from the 11 year-old Evans Vineyard on the northern end of the Coonawarra cigar, bottled as the excellent 1980 Petaluma Coonawarra that also still opens well in 2025. Back then, I realised the Koppamurra and Evans Vineyard 1980 wines were quite different, reflecting two similar but different terroirs. I mentally filed the potential of the Koppamurra Vineyard as a future acquisition if it ever became available.
In 2000 the final court determination of the prolonged Coonawarra boundary dispute, left Koppamurra vineyard in the new Wrattonbully wine region.
In 2002 Tapanappa purchased the Koppamurrra Vineyard from the band of founders and renamed it the Whalebone Vineyard.
In the process of redeveloping Koppamurra vineyard and planting a new vineyard for the Bizot/Bollinger family next door, we discovered an extensive cave system in the 34-million-year-old limestone under the vineyards with the skeleton of an ancient whale exposed in the wall of the cave. What else to rename the 28-year-old vineyard other than the Whalebone vineyard?
Tapanappa’s 23-year journey with the Whalebone vineyard began with renovating the trellis and irrigation and continues with the carefully nurturing of the old vines, encouraging them to produce the best expression of the unique Whalebone terroir.
Xavier Bizot, my son-in-law, has the responsibility of managing the venerable Whalebone Vineyard and maintaining the high quality of its crop despite the sclerotic effects of vine age and diminishing production. He is succeeding admirably.
From the first Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard in 2003, depending on the vintage, Tapanappa has produced a straight Merlot, a Cabernet Shiraz blend, a Merlot Cabernet Franc blend and in the recent small crop years, an all in Cabernet Merlot Cabernet Franc blend.
The latter, all varieties together, is destined to be the future for Whalebone as the crop levels diminish, small but precious. The about to be released 2021 Whalebone is an excellent cool vintage example of this blend.
My first comparison of the Coonawarra and Wrattonbully terroirs were the wines we made 45 years ago from the 1980 vintage. Geoffrey Weaver’s Wrattonbully wine had restrained opulence, a ripe Cabernet fruit without any hint of Cabernet’s briary, vegetal dimension. The 1980 Petaluma Coonawarra was a more austere Cabernet varietal expression with hints of thistle and capsicum, a more evident acid and a determined tannin structure.
Today, the 51-year-old Whalebone delivers the same rounded ripe and balanced Cabernet dominant wine. It produces a medium weight, translucent, genuine claret that ages for decades and retains freshness and a lively purple tint.
The uniqueness of Whalebone is evident compared to the fading fashion of colour and tannin dense very ripe wines that are ubiquitous in the market.
I am in awe of and honour Whalebone at 51 years of age. What a privilege it is to have made its wines since 2003.
Brian Croser
26/4/2025
