Description
Brian Croser really needs no introduction. Having founded the iconic winery Petaluma in the 70’s, Brian is recognised as Australia’s leading exponent of terroir driven wines. He has been awarded the Order of Australia, Decanter Wine Magazine ‘Man of the Year’ and many other accolades for his life long contribution and service to the Australian wine industry. Having sold Petaluma in 2001, the Croser family, along with their business partners the Bollinger Champagne family set up Tapanappa Wines on some of the countries most distinguised vineyard sites; 30 year old Tiers Vineyard, Piccadilly Valley, Adelaide Hills; 35 year old Whalebone Cabernet/Shiraz vineyard in Wrattonbully and pioneering Foggy Hill Pinot Noir Vineyard on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia.
The Croser family planted the first vines in the Tiers Vineyard in 1979, the first vineyard planted in the Adelaide Hills region in the 20th century. It is in every way a “distinguished site” pioneering the true cool climate wine industry of South Australia.
The Tiers Vineyard is in the centre of the Adelaide Hills in the Piccadilly Valley under the Eastern shadow of Mount Lofty. The Piccadilly Valley is one of the few genuine homo-climes of Burgundy in Australia. When Brian and Ann Croser took their young family to the Piccadilly Valley in 1978 to establish the Petaluma winery, they purchased the 7-hectare property they named The Tiers as their home and the site for a revolutionary Chardonnay vineyard.
The property was named The Tiers in recognition of the name the 1836 pioneers gave to the central Adelaide Hills in as seen from the Adelaide plain. The original name for the Piccadilly Valley was The Tiers Valley. 3 hectares of adjacent low-lying land was purchased for the establishment of the Petaluma winery. Brian Croser had identified the Piccadilly Valley as one of the best places in Australia to plant Chardonnay based on the cool climate requirement to elicit the best qualities of this early ripening variety.
About the 2021 Tiers Chardonnay from Brian Croser ....”I have described the 2021 vintage in the Piccadilly Valley as “near perfect”. Like 2020, the 2021 vintage was marginally warmer than average. What a relief to have two successive cooler vintages, (indeed 3 as I observe the evolving 2022 vintage), after the near unrelenting warmth of the previous decade of vintages ..”
“I had thought tasting the 2020 Tiers Chardonnay was one of those rare opportunities to describe a truly wonderful wine, better than almost all that have gone before. It seems improbable, but I can say the same thing about the 2021 Tiers Chardonnay. The late ripening of a small crop in perfect cool, dry and sunny conditions, has defined a very special Chardonnay from the unique and distinguished Tiers Vineyard terroir. The colour is pale lemon green. The aroma is shy but intensely fresh, mainly of Chardonnay fruit, ripe nectarine with a hint of yeast cashew and oak spice. The aroma compels the need to taste, which amplifies the intensity and freshness but with refined fruit sweetness and texture. Finally, the cutting edge of acid and slight grapefruit finish of a wine that may not yet have the power of the 2020 Tiers but has a finesse that is remarkable.
As with my tasting note last year you may think I have over-reached. Just try the wine for yourself.
2021 Tiers Chardonnay is “a very special vintage of a unique wine defined by the truly distinguished Tiers Vineyard terroir”.
97 points, No.46 of Top 100 Wines of Australia 2021, James Suckling “This parcel has performed so impressively in 2020, with trademark white-peach aromas and a subtle lemon-cream edge. The oak is so well integrated here. There’s impressive seamlessness on the palate with citrus-nuanced stone fruit carrying so long and fresh. Thrilling chardonnay. Drink or hold.”
98 points, Ray Jordan, The Western Australian “… Like the rest of Australia, it was a very small crop resulting in a wine of deep fruit concentration. Once again, the wine spent an extended time until February this year on full lees, allowing pick up of further complexity and textural mouth feel. The striking feature is the palate power and length. I have tasted many of these wines but I don’t think I have tasted better.”
97 points, Andrew Calliard MW “Intense fresh grapefruit, lime, tonic water aromas with vanilla nougat notes. Fresh and creamy textured with grapefruit, lime, bitter lemon, stone fruit flavours, fine loose knit chalky, hint of al dente textures, lovely mid palate viscosity and bell-clear acidity. A resonating finish, highlighting pure fruits and persistent mineral length. Drinking well now, but best to keep for a while to allow the elements to fold.”
96 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front “This is stunning. Intense with flavour, chalky of texture, long of finish. Flint, grapefruit, pear and peach flavours charge with authority through the palate. Crushed fennel notes dance about the edges. The drive and the power and the overall impact of this is really quite something; it’s an emphatic wine, it took but one sip for me to be thoroughly convinced.”
97 points, Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot “There is self-assured confidence to this vintage of Tiers. It’s not all bells and whistles right now, with greater restraint than the 1.5M, more Puligny than Meursault. But what it is already showing is outstanding complexity with melon, citrus, florals sitting well matched to beautifully integrated oak, plus a touch of praline in the mix. There is a tightness to the palate but also a delicious fruit delicacy and lightness of touch well matched to its creamy texture and all beautifully balanced with bright acidity before a long, chalky finish. Perfectly pitched, this is a great vintage of Tiers, if not one of the greatest.”
RRP $114 Our Price $92.99
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