A swag of Tapanappa releases tasted over lunch with Brian Croser

Although it may seem like going out for lunch with winemakers is a daily occurrence here at Australian Wine & Drinks Review, the reality is that lunch is typically a pretty mundane affair revolving around leftovers consumed solo in front of the computer.

Call it a modern reality, but if I actually went to all the tastings and lunches that colour the Sydney wine trade, I’d never actually get any work done.

Still, when Brian Croser invites you to lunch, you go. Even now, in his mid-70s, Brian is a provocative figure in Australian wine, with strong views on a range of subjects. Indeed, tastings and events with Brian always involve some sort of debate, and there are plenty in the industry who he rubs the wrong way as he peers down at you over his glasses.

But I dig it. Twenty years ago, I can remember feeling intimidated by figures like Brian and would say nothing, figuring that as a dumb kid in a world of adults, I had no clue. I was just 18 when I first started in this industry, and for years, I would turn up to tastings and be a decade younger than anyone in the room and feel overawed. Now, as an ever-more-wrinkled forty-something, I look forward to a bit of back-and-forth with a doyen like Brian, especially someone who has led wine administration, education, and the direction of Australian premium wine for decades (and has the stories to prove it). Stir in the fact that Brian also likes great restaurants and often delves into his cellar for comparisons (especially iconic Bordeaux & Burgundy), and you’ve got me looking forward to a typical Croser lunch.

This visit, Brian was excited to be celebrating twenty years of the Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard, his Fleurieu Peninsula sheep stations turned project plot that has long promised to be a new outpost for high-quality South Australian Pinot Noir. His new 22 and 21 Pinot releases from the Foggy vineyard are high water marks, too, even if they remain overshadowed by the instant perfection of the famed Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay wines.

Fittingly, Brian also dug out an iconic Burgundy for a different flavour, and it didn’t make the Foggy wines look shabbier.

Let’s take a look at some wines, hey?

I didn’t review it here, but there was a Daosa Blanc de Blancs 2016 poured on arrival, and it was excellent. Since this review, it has put on more weight and more complexity to now be such a mouthful of a modern Australian sparkling. An enthusiastic two-thumbs up (I was drinking it without even trying).

Tapanappa Tiers Chardonnay 2022

I’ve seen this wine a few times now (it was a #ChardoMay highlight), and every month, it looks more complete. There’s this Tiers flavour profile that I feel is unmistakable (but it might be a reflection of how close I am to this wine), with white nectarine, whipped butter and potting clay over grapefruit. The flavours move over the years – there’s more peachy opulence and less clay in warmer years, and more grapefruit and more clay in cooler years – but otherwise, it’s a constant flavour. This year, with 1176 HDD vs an average 1135 HDD feels classical, and the result is somewhere in between. It’s a terrific modern Chardonnay of contained power – and delicious. 18.7/20, 95/100.

Tapanappa Tiers Chardonnay 2018

With a 1503 HDD vintage this is a more powerful, stonefruit-toned wine that feels more escalated and generous. There’s a lemon pith tang, though, and it contrasts to the nougat richness. Interestingly, I see the oak more in this wine, even though the oak maturation isn’t different. High quality, and even if the 2022 is my pick on potential, this might be the better wine now. 18.5/20, 94/100.

Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir 2009

Just the third vintage release for Foggy, and in the early stages, Brian was never assured it would work out. ‘I was worried that the 2009 would never get there as a wine’. It’s still alive and still entirely drinkable. There is a swathe of mothball oxidative notes. Cherry, figs, caramel, raspberry. Holding on and still in rude form – cherry fruit still there. This is still enjoyable. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir 2014

2014 was a failure at Foggy Hill with ‘lots of green pips’ and a very low crop. Only fitting that this wine was corked. Indeed, Brian used this Pinot as a vehicle to announce that Tapanappa was going to screwcaps on everything. ‘Not for the q word – quality’ says Brian, but instead about cost and cork taint. NR

Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir 2022

I’ve had this three times now with similar notes. It’s such a bright wine for the Tapanappa Pinot Noir line, with cherry raspberry generosity. Oak has always played a part in this wine, and so often it has felt like Cabernet makers Pinot. Indeed, the dominant vanilla bean oak still plays a role here, adding a background vanilla cream line through the middle. But the mulch and delicacy and raspberry Pinosity mark this as a very enjoyable mid-weight polished modern Pinot of charm and vitality. 18/20, 93/100.

Tapanappa Definitus Pinot Noir 2019

Sourced from a small section of defined rows on the Foggy Hill Vineyard where ‘(the difference) became apparent on a shallow stony part of the vineyard where the fruit ripens earlier, and the vines are smaller’ No missing the vintage here – it’s still a bigger wine, more haunch and blood sausage, and much less delicacy. I can see the line of vanilla, too. Just a little caramel and brick dust, with cherry fruit that is beginning to look dusty and a bit ferrous. There is quality here, but it’s a bit far down the dry red path for mine. 17.5/20, 91/100.

Tapanappa Definitus Pinot Noir 2021

The money shot wine. A ‘lovely, lovely cool year’ according to Brian, and it ‘makes a big difference to aromatics and flavour’. It feels infinitely riper than 12.5% alcohol on the label would suggest. Great Pinosity and acidity this year – real limpid raspberry prettiness. In fact, the only challenge is that the oak still stands out a bit as a structural element. Great tannins, though and a certain beauty to it. The best yet. 18.5/20, 94/100.

Rousseau Clos St Jacques Gevrey-Cambertin 2004

Fully mature Rousseau from the famously hard ‘lady bug’ vintage. A very different flavour in this lineup, too. Red-brown the nose, all mushroom broth, leather, bacon bits, blood and bone. Fully mature, in other words. The palate looks a little lean and drying, but the tannins and acidity are just excellent (and make this quite delicious. It’s past the plateau top but unquestionably enjoyable. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Tapanappa Whalebone Merlot Cabernet Franc 2012

Luscious with its oak-cosseted silken plushness while shaped by bitterness and coffee and dark berries. It’s a big wine that looks very ripe and framed by oak with a certain choc berried opulence. It’s a bit too much volume for really high points (and looks especially much after the Rousseau), but rudely youthful, too. 17.5/20, 91/100.