2021 Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay

Perfectly balanced Adelaide Hills Chardonnay from the spectacular 2021 vintage, crafted by a master winemaker.

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Description

The Adelaide Hills continues to be a region producing world-class, knockout Chardonnay, and Tapanappa's latest release shows just how good things can get.

Winemaker Brian Croser is something of an icon in South Australian winemaking circles, and his years of experience are demonstrated in this perfectly balanced drop. A gentle use of barrel fermentation and ageing (about one-third new oak) plus a little bit of lees work results in a creamy, textural wine with subtle chalkiness too.

Classic Adelaide Hills notes shine through; nashi pear, pastry, cashew, plus a whiff of something minerally.

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.


The Chardonnay crop was very modest in the Piccadilly Valley at 5 tonnes/hectare, not because of the flowering conditions in November 2020, but because the previous vintage had experienced very bad flowering conditions, reflected in low fruitfulness of the shoots bearing the 2021 vintage. The Chardonnay grapes on the 37-year-old vines of our Piccadilly Valley vineyards, ripened in still and cool air, sunny conditions, ideal autumnal weather. The seven-month growing season heat above 10ºC (Growing season degree days – GDD), was 1233ºC days versus the long-term average of 1076ºC days, most of the difference derived from the warm spring. The old vines of our Piccadilly Valley vineyards yielded up their precious crop on the 29th of March.


The hand-harvested Chardonnay grapes from our old Piccadilly Valley vineyards were chilled in trays in the cold-room to 2ºC. The cold grapes were tipped into our gentle air-bag presses and the whole fruit pressed juice was pumped to tank before being gravitated to French oak barriques (one-third new) for fermentation.


The fermentation lasted two months in the cool autumn conditions. The wine was barrel-aged on full lees until December of 2021 when it was clear racked from barrique and bottled in January 2022.

94 Points - "If you’re into statistics, and detailed weather information, then Brian Croser is the man for you. Being English, and specifically Northern English, anyone who knows me well will know that weather observation is a wonderful source of interest for me.

Classic Hills Chardonnay, is probably a good way to describe it. It has flavour and fruit, and an underlying savoury character. Cashew and peach, aniseed, cinnamon and cedar oak, ripe grapefruity acidity, a little chalkiness to texture, and a nutty juicy peach and spiced pear flavour carrying on long clean finish. So excellent." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

93 Points - "Light straw-yellow hue. White peach, broken slate and smoked-nuts on the nose. The palate opens with intense white peach fruits, they flow with power from start to finish, all the while layers of smoky bacon fat and oyster-brine add complexity and build interest. Great drive and it lingers very long into the finish." - Stuart Knox (The Real Review)

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