2025 Tapanappa Tiers 1.5M Vineyard Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills

This was a product of a very hot, dry vintage, which tested all of Brian Croser’s immense experience. Yet the wine captures very much about what this particular vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley is all about. On the nose, there are notes of very subtle lemon curd and brioche with a spicy complexity. On the palate, there is a textural richness that combines some nice, sweet fruit characters with an edgy, grapefruit acidity, and a further quince paste, vanilla pod-like influence. The finish delivers with a very subtle savory note and distinct minerality that completes what is a very good wine. Drink 2026-2038.

96 points Ray Jordan for Wine Pilot, April 2026

The 1.5M block is a distinct parcel within the Tiers Vineyard that was replanted in 2003 to French Bernard clones on rootstocks at 1.5 metre row spacing with a fruiting wire just 50cm from the ground. It produces earlier ripening, fuller and more concentrated fruit than the original old vine section, and has been bottled separately since 2015. 

The hand-harvested and chilled in trays in the cold-room to 2°C. Airbag pressed and pumped to tank before being gravitated to French oak barriques (one third new) for fermentation. The fermentation lasted two months, followed by aging on full lees until racking in October, and bottling a month later.

The Tiers 1.5M stands alongside its sibling, the 2025 Tiers as an equal but with subtle differences. Similar green-yellow colour, with aromas of ripe peach, pear, and dried fig, with slight brioche and cinnamon notes. The flavour is full, rich and ripe, reflecting the aromas with persistent length. Texture and fruit sweetness is offset by grapefruit like acidity.

Would suit grilled scallops, steamed whole fish with ginger and shallots, Cantonese white-cut chicken with ginger dipping sauce.