No.46 of Top 100 Wines of Australia 2021, James Suckling

Brian Croser, Wine Maker
I have described the 2021 vintage in the Piccadilly Valley as “near perfect”. Like 2020, the 2021 vintage was marginally warmer than average. What a relief to have two successive cooler vintages, (indeed 3 as I observe the evolving 2022 vintage), after the near unrelenting warmth of the previous decade of vintages.

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, 96 Points
This is stunning. Intense with flavour, chalky of texture, long of finish. Flint, grapefruit, pear and peach flavours charge with authority through the palate. Crushed fennel notes dance about the edges. The drive and the power and the overall impact of this is really quite something; it’s an emphatic wine, it took but one sip for me to be thoroughly convinced.

Vintage Notes from the Winemaker:

I have described the 2021 vintage in the Piccadilly Valley as “near perfect”. Like 2020, the 2021 vintage wasmarginally warmer than average. What a relief to have two successive cooler vintages, (indeed 3 as I observethe evolving 2022 vintage), after the near unrelenting warmth of the previous decade of vintages.

The Chardonnay crop was very modest in the Tiers old block at 4 tonnes/hectare, not because of the floweringconditions in November 2020, but because the previous vintage had experienced very bad flowering conditions,reflected in low fruitfulness of the shoots bearing the 2021 vintage.

The Chardonnay grapes in the 42-year-old Tiers Vineyard ripened in still and cool air, sunny conditions, idealautumnal weather. The seven-month growing season heat above 10ºC (Growing season degree days-GDD), was1233ºC days versus the long-term average of 1076ºC days.

Tiers Vineyard old block yielded up its exceptional quality fruit on the 25th of March.