Tapanappa Tiers 1.5M Chardonnay 2020, Piccadilly Valley

Brian Croser's vineyard in the Adelaide Hills, and one of the great Chardonnay sites in Australia. Six years on and it is opening up. In 2003, the Croser family removed 1.3 hectares of the original Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay that was planted in 1979 in the Piccadilly Valley as the first Adelaide Hills vineyard. The area was replanted with the French Bernard clones 76 and 95 on rootstocks, on very close 1.5 metre row spacing with the fruiting wire at only 0.5 metres above the ground. This unique vineyard section produces earlier ripening, fuller flavoured Chardonnay than the 1981 old vine Chardonnay on its own roots, across the centre road in Tiers Vineyard. So unique is this small area of Chardonnay that we made the decision to bottle it separately from the 2015 vintage onwards. The 2020 Tiers 1.5M Chardonnay stands alongside its older sibling, the 2020 Tiers Old Block, as an equal but with the subtle differences of its close spaced, French clone, earlier ripening habit. The hand harvested Chardonnay grapes from the Tiers Vineyard 1.5M block, were chilled in trays in the cold-room to 2C. 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 February of 2021 when it was clear racked from barrique and bottled. The Tiers 1.5M is slightly yellower than its older sibling. The aroma is more open and ripe, more of peach than nectarine and with some elderflower and custard sweetness. The flavour is intense and very fruit ripe and fresh. There is significant texture and fruit sweetness and exceptional length of flavour. The trade mark texture is offset by the acid and grapefruit finishing cut of the Tiers Vineyard. The delayed ripening of a very small crop in perfect cool, dry and sunny conditions, has defined a very special Chardonnay from the unique and distinguished Tiers 1.5M Vineyard terroir.