Tapanappa Tiers Chardonnay 2017 – absolute top tier

Tapanappa Tiers Chardonnay 2017

Yes, this is an excellent vintage of Tapanappa Tiers Chardonnay. I almost finished a bottle as a solo drinker last week, even with other wines to choose from. It’s a delight.

2017 was one of the latest vintages on record for Brian and Ann Croser’s Tapanappa Vineyard, but as Brian puts it ‘a late harvest is a wonderful harvest (provided there is no rain, and there wasn’t)’ thanks to grapes ripening in the cool of autumn rather than the heat of summer.

This is the tightest and most sharply delineated Tiers in many years. I had it the night after opening the ’17 Tolpuddle and the acid profile and delicacy are on a similar level. It’s a shy wine at first, with a whiff of meringue, before a palate that is very much framed by mandarin acidity. Bracingly fresh, but not unripe, with vanilla bean oak and a palate that stealthily builds with its white peach fruit. That purity. That perfect length. It’s a superb tight and fine white that will be even better next year.

Best drinking: Next year and then for five years as a starting point. 18.7/20, 95/100+. 13%, $90. Would I buy it? Another wine to demonstrate the average value of most 1er Cru white Burgundy. I know where my money would go.