We are thrilled to announce that the 2023 Tapanappa Tiers Chardonnay and the 2023 Tiers 1.5M Vineyard have both received the prestigious Masters score at the 2023 DB Global Chardonnay Masters, making them among just seven wines to earn this distinction. A big congratulations to Brian Croser and the team at Tapanappa Wines!

 

Recognised for their exceptional quality and value, these wines stand out with their remarkable concentration of flavour and a fresh finish – offered at a price point comparable to a brut NV Champagne. Sourced from Adelaide Hills’ oldest Chardonnay plantings, they showcase Tapanappa’s unwavering commitment to producing world-class wines.

 

Brian Croser, a pioneer of cool-climate viticulture in Australia, co-founded Petaluma and later rebranded the original Petaluma Winery as Tapanappa. Croser has spent 40 years advocating for high-quality viticulture and fruit, with the Tapanappa estate serving as the perfect outlet for this philosophy.

 

The Tiers Vineyard, planted with Chardonnay in 1979 in the Piccadilly Valley, is one of Australia’s most renowned sites. These old vines, regularly producing some of the country’s finest Chardonnays, have been carefully restructured and re-trellised to yield superior fruit. The vineyard is regarded as a pioneer in the cool-climate wine industry of South Australia.

The 2023 vintage is characterized by cool weather, similar to the previous four vintages (2020–2023). The grapes in the 42-year-old Tiers Vineyard ripened in still and cool air, sunny conditions, ideal autumnal weather and just before a rain event. Tiers Vineyard old block yielded up its exceptional quality fruit on the 12th and 13th of April, two weeks later than average and one of the latest ever. Yielding a modest crop with excellent fruit quality. The grapes were hand-harvested from the Tiers old block and underwent careful processing, including fermentation in French oak barrels (one-third new). The wine was aged on full lees until November 2023.

 

2023 Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay:

“The 2023 Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay has elderflower and white peach, pressed flowers and kiwi fruit, custard apples and scraped vanilla pod. The wine is delicate but also powerful and finishes in a spooling flourish of flavor and salty acidity. A very smart wine here, it is decidedly cool in feel. Patience will be required in order to see this wine unfurl to its best; for now, it is a floral thing.”

95 points Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate July 2024

 “From the Tiers Vineyard planted in 1979. A third of the barrels used are new French oak. The cooler year renders a wine of tension and torsion, precision and finesse. It’s heavily perfumed, an invitation to drink lustily, with green apple, lime, ginger, cinnamon and faint alpine herb characters lightly dusted with clove-cedar oak. Just so. The palate has immense vitality and length, a pleasing, almost lightly hazy texture captured in ripples of briny acidity holding in more apple, cinnamon, clove and licks of peach and green almond. Lots going on here; an immensely satisfying and serious wine. And delicious, importantly.”

96 points Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion Aug 2024

 “Enticing citrus, orchard fruit and grilled cashew notes flow and swirl around the simmering acidity and fine creamy texture and propel towards the enchanting, long finish.”

95 points ‘Gold Medal’, Decanter World Wine Awards June 2024