Tapanappa Wines

The Tapanappa winery is a joint venture established in 2002 between the highly regarded winemaker & viticulturalist Brian Croser (ex Petaluma), Bollinger Champagne House and Jean-Michel Cazes from Chateau Lynch Bages. The aim has been to produce unique Australian“terroir” driven wines from single vineyards that enjoy cool climate conditions at 450m altitude.

The Tapanappa name derives from a 550 million year old geological formation that underlies the Fleurieu Peninsula where the Croser family have a sheep farm and vineyard. The Tiers Vineyard, planted 1979 with Chardonnay, is  the first vineyard planted in the Adelaide Hills thus pioneering the cool climate wine industry of South Australia.

The Foggy Hill Vineyard is on the highest point of the Fleurieu Peninsula and was purchased by the Croser family in 2003. It is planted with Pinot Noir.

Whalebone Vineyard is a cooler-climate vineyard in Wrattonbully (just north of Coonawarra) planted in 1974 with Cabernet Sauvingon and Shiraz. The soil here is terra rossa from the Oligocene era (over 35 million year-old).

James Halliday has rated Tapanappa as a 5-star winery in his Austrlian Wine companion guide.