2022 Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay

Located in the Piccadilly Valley within the Adelaide Hills region, Brian Croser’s Tiers vineyard was planted in 1979 making it the first in the region. It is perfectly suited to Chardonnay being a closely matched homo-clime of Burgundy, especially the southern end of the Cotes de Beaune where the great wines of Montrachet and Meursault are grown. Fermented in French oak barriques (one third new) the wine was then aged on full lees until December 2022.
Brilliant very pale straw colour with distinct highlights of green around the edges and a watery hue. Beautifully refined and complex the nose offers up intense white peach and ripe nectarine fruits which are complimented by dried honey, biscuity oak, nougat, light cashew and gun flint notes. Layered across the mid weighted palate with great finesse are white peach, citrus and nectarine fruits infused with a flinty minerality. Lively acidity lends a fresh feel with biscuity nougat, cashew and spice elements also chiming in. Precise yet gently creamed in its feel it finishes long with a mineral zing. Should form superbly with extended bottle age.
Drink over the next 6-8 years.
Alc. 13.8%

Other Reviews….
While the 1.5m Chardonnay sibling is arguably more impressive on release, this is resinous and latent with multitudinous layers of flavour compressed by classy oak and juicy acidity. I like the way the fruit is subdued in a quasi-burgundian fashion, with power packed behind. It will come. And it does. With air. Raw almond, hazelnut, quinine and Japanese radish. The barest hint of stone fruit. A long, saline linger. Give this time, for it is among the country's greats. Drink by 2034.
97 points
Ned Goodwin - James Halliday's Australian Wine Companion

One of Australia’s most famous Chardonnays, though I fear it got a bit lost for some with the division of Petaluma and the emergence of Tapanappa. For me, this latest Tiers from the Tapanappa team must surely sit with the very best ever released, since the vineyard was planted back in 1979. A cool vintage, the fruit was pressed to tank and then to French oak barriques, 1/3rd new, for two months fermentation. The wine then stayed on lees until December 2022. A limpid lemon colour with flecks of green. It has the refinement of the 1.5 Metres Chardonnay, but an extra level of complexity. Notes of lemon, grapefruit especially, ginger, stonefruit, nuts and spices. Still fresh and with a minerally backing. Very long and surely with a life of a decade plus ahead, this is also utterly seamless and impeccably balanced. Drink 2023-2033.
97 points
Ken Gargett – Winepilot.com

The Tapanappa 2022 Chardonnay Tiers Vineyard is one of Australia's great Chardonnays, and that has never been more apparent than in this 2022 vintage. A superstar wine of grand proportions, the fruit has startling intensity in the mouth. The juicy acidity that weaves all elements of the wine together shows the pedigree of the site up in Piccadilly Valley (planted 1979). The phenolics are finely milled, lithe and ductile. What a wine. It's streamlined, seamless, toasty, so persistent and long, sapid and just so classy. With raw power and open-weave at the back of the palate, drink it now (so many will, and so many will love it). But equally, time will allow this wine to grow and open, and I believe it will be better, even in just a few years. 13.8% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink 2023-2025.
97+ points
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate