Vintage Notes
2011 was the coldest and wettest vintage since the Tiers vineyard pioneered the Piccadilly Valley and Adelaide Hills wine region in 1979. The heat summation for the growing season was a meager 1045°C days versus the long-term average of 1172°C days and the final ripening months of February and March recorded more than 220 mm’s of rain. The fruit for the 2011 PV Chardonnay came in its entirety from The Tiers Vineyard, including both the new young very close spaced vines and the old vines that were planted in 1979 and 1980. The harvest was delayed until the 8th and 9th of April and very selective hand picking delivered about one third of the normal crop to the winery.
Winemaking Notes
The 2011 Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay was made in the winery as though it was destined to be Tiers Chardonnay. The hand-harvested grapes were de-stemmed, crushed and chilled to a small airbag press and the free run juice and very light pressings were combined. The juice was settled for 48 hours and gravitated to French Vosges oak barriques, (50% new), with an addition of our own local yeast strain. Fermentation in barrique in a cool cellar was followed by time on lees to allow the malo-lactic fermentation to occur. At the end of malo-lactic fermentation the wine was clear racked and a small dose of sulphur dioxide was added. The wine was bottled on the 17th of April 2012. The in-bottle analysis is:
- Alcohol 13.0%
- pH 3.2
- Total Acid 7.0 gpl
- Sugar 0.9 gpl
- Volatile Acidity 0.39 gpl
The Taste of the Wine
2011 Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay is the product of a freakishly cool and wet vintage. As a result it has a moderate alcohol and relatively high natural acid with flavours and structure that are refined and savoury but with the grapefruit and melon skin of very cool grown Chardonnay. Despite this the wine still has the hallmark significant mouth feel of The Tiers Vineyard and wonderful complexity arising from the cool grown fruit, the malo-lactic fermentation and the oak. 2011 Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay is a special wine from a very different vintage and is “a pure expression of the unique Piccadilly Valley terroir.”
