Reviews
Tapanappa Definitus Pinot Noir 2022
G 96
An elite Pinot release from Brian Croser’s Foggy Hill Vineyard, here from a cooler year which defines the structure and flavour within. Its colour is all about cherry skin, aroma exuding the same fruit notes with an enticing floral note, fragrant spring blossoms. In the palate there’s a more grounded kitchen herbal thread of flavours – savoury thyme and oregano, saltbush, even – which still allow fruit notes to poke through, before a fairly firm tannin hug ties everything in, pushing a structural finish, yet still the fruit persists till the very end. Impressive. Drink now–2036 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2024 G 95 Classic Pinot colour – mid-crimson to ruby scarlet, with touchstone varietal aromas, poached cherry with woody spices, a quintessential Pinot sensory attraction. That bushy spice feel finds an extra cedar-like gear in the palate, urged on by deftly weighted cherry and red plum fruit flavours, tightened in the finish with neatly integrated tannins. Everything fits together for an engaging expression of the variety and its southern coastal site. Drink now–2034 Mr Riggs Mr Brightside Picpoul 2024 G 93 Released in a distinctive squat bottle, this exciting Mediterranean white variety turning heads in the Fleurieu and McLaren Vale regions, pulls all the right tricks here, with a lemon/saline-like nose and up there zesty, crunchy palate energy. It’s all about the lemons in this outing – get the seafood ready. Drink now–2030 Salomon Estate Norwood Heritage Red Red Blend 2022 G 93 From Austrian winemaking “royalty”, Dr Bert Salomon’s South Australian vineyard in the Finniss district of the Fleurieu Peninsula, cooled by the Southern Ocean. The wine is an Aussie classic red blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, dedicated to Bert’s mother’s forefather, Johann Nepomuk Hinterrocker, who established the St Ignatius parish and college in the eastern Adelaide suburb of Norwood in 1870. That’s heritage two ways, from the Salomon family point of view. The blend in this iteration is 65% Shiraz and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, matured in mostly seasoned French oak hogshead barrels which bring a supportive cedar backdrop to the overall black-fruited expression, a faint aromatic edge of dark mint chocolate, both nose and palate, pointing to a recognisable Australian identity. While there’s impressive depth and flavour, the wine drinks with medium weight ease, tannins superfine and soft with a dusting of white pepper spice for a late palate rise in interest. Definitely benefits from a decanting at its current age, the wine opening up and blossoming over hours, and even days if you pour just a glass or two each time. A lovely whole- world approach and expression. Drink now–2035
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The Vintage Journal
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