Brian John Cross | |
|---|---|
 Croser in 2024 | |
| Born | March 1948 (age 76) |
| Alma mater | University of Adelaide |
| Occupation(s) | Winemaker, viticulturist |
| Years active | 1969– |
| Spouse | Ann Croser |
Brian John Croser AO (born March 1948) is an Australian winemaker and viticulturist.
Croser was born in Millicent, South Australia, in March 1948, [1] and grew up on a sheep farm in the Clare Valley from age six, near vineyards. [2] [3] Both of his parents had long backgrounds in farming and were Methodist and Protestants. He boarded at Scotch College. [1] The headmaster there, Charles Fisher, influenced Croser to go into winemaking. [3] [4]
Croser graduated with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from the University of Adelaide in 1969. He began working for Thomas Hardy and Sons in 1969 to gain a sponsor for overseas study, and worked for two and a half years in quality control and research and development. [1] [2] [5] He then undertook postgraduate studies in oenology at the Davis campus of the University of California in the 1970s for fifteen months. [1] [2] He found the experience disappointing and felt pressure to return because of problems at Hardy and Sons. He claims he never submitted his thesis. [1] [6] On the Davis campus, he discovered chardonnay, and was mentored by academics such as Harold Olmo and Maynard Amerine. [7]
Back from the United States, Croser returned to work for Thomas Hardy and Sons, making head winemaker in 1975. [2] [6] Croser then went to work at the Riverina College of Advanced Education in December 1975, [1] now part of Charles Sturt University, and with Tony Jordan started the wine science program. [2] [8] To add a practical component to the degree, in 1977 the wine science department convinced the university to build a winery in an old olive oil press. [6] The first vintage was in that year, and it won awards. [1] The wine science program was influential on the modern Australian wine industry. [9]
While working at the Riverina College in 1976, Croser started the Petaluma winery, naming it after Petaluma, California. [10] To do so, he planted grapes in the regions that best suited them: Riesling in Clare and Cabernet Sauvignon in Wrattonbully, among others. [7] He was one of the first in Australia to do this. [10] Champagnes made at this time at Petaluma were some of the first produced in Australia. [1] In 1978, Croser and his wife Ann bought a market garden in the Piccadilly Valley in South Australia, chosen for its cool weather to best grow chardonnay. They planted the Tiers vineyard the following year, and started producing chardonnay from the grapes under the Petaluma name. [7] [11] Petaluma was opened in 1979, [7] and the inaugural 1979 Petaluma Riesling quickly popularized Rieslings with more lifted aromatics in Australia. [12] These Rieslings were noted for their low prices and high quality. [13]
As part of his contract with Riverina College, Croser was allowed to consult wineries. After being pushed into a management role in Riverina College, in August 1978 Croser quit to work full time on the consultancies and Petaluma. [1] [6] An entity for consulting called Oenotec was formed in 1978, and he was soon joined by Jordan. [13] They were extremely influential on Australian wine, and caught planes from harvest-to-harvest, providing hands-on advice. [8] [14] With many clients by the mid-1980s, they were constrained by time, and gave a lot of advice over the phone, as well as sending oenology graduates as full-time winemakers. [15] Their advice focused on promoting anaerobic and hygienic wine production. [10] Oenotec was acclaimed for improving the quality of Australian wine, but also criticised for perceived arrogance, speculated profiteering and for making the taste of wine less varied and sophisticated. Croser disputed these critiques. [10] [15] [16] Following Oenotec, other wine consultancy firms were started. [15] By 1984, they were retained by thirty firms, and Jordan left to start Domaine Chandon Australia. [8]
In 1986, Croser founded the Dundee Wine Company,
When Petaluma was subject to a hostile takeover it was made apparent that the Tiers vineyard, his home and driveway were under a separate lease. As of 2023, it produces chardonnay under the Tapanappa label. Croser was an early proponent of chardonnay in Australia, which late became popular. [7] He has been criticised for being slow to adopt practices such as barrel fermentation for chardonnay. [7] He has endeavored to express the fruit flavour in the wine. [11] Climate change poses a threat to ideal growing conditions for Tiers. [7]
In 1986, Croser founded the Dundee Wine Company, known as the Argyle winery, in Oregon, US. [2] [3]
Croser worked as the deputy chancellor of the University of Adelaide from 1999 to 2007. [17]
In 2001, Lion Nathan undertook a hostile takeover of the Petaluma winery, which Croser notes significantly affected him. [10] After some time Lion Nathan returned some autonomy to Petaluma, although Croser moved his attention to other projects. [7] [10] As of 2005 the winery was very respected. [18] While working at Petaluma, Croser acted as a professional mentor. [10] In 2014, the Croser family regained control of Petaluma. [3] [19]
In 2002, the Croser family, the Cazes family and Bollinger purchased the small Koppamurra vineyard in Wrattonbully. This was among the oldest vineyards in Wrattonbully, planted in 1975. [20] Bollinger had previously been an early investor in Petaluma. [21] It was renamed the Whalebone vineyard, and the winery was called Tapanappa, after an Aboriginal word for "stick to the path." [18] In 2013 Etienne Bizot of the Bollinger family joined the board of Tapanappa. [21] Croser's daughter Lucy and husband Xavier Bizot, son of Christian Bizot run the business, along with his other son-in-law. [4] [21] [22]
Around 2003, Croser started the Foggy Hill vineyard on the Fleurieu Peninsula, which grows pinot noir. This was an experiment on densely planted low-trellised vines in a cool environment, new to winemaking. [11] Difficulties have come from tannins in the terroir. A separate bottling called "Definitus" since 2017 comes from a part of the vineyard with more intense flavours. [11]
Croser was influential as president of the Winemaker's Federation of Australia between 1991–1993 and 1997–1999. [10] This organisation, through merger, is as of 2018 Australian Grape and Wine Incorporated. [23] He helped create the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology. [2] He was president of the Australian Winemakers Forum, which he formed in 1984. [2]
As of 2021, Croser lived at the Tiers Vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley. [24] He has been married to his wife Ann since at least the mid-1970s, and has at least two daughters, the second born in 1977. [1] [4]
Within the wine world, as of 2020 Croser most admired Jean-Michel Cazes. [3] He is interested in football and reading. [4]
Croser is a critic of the domination of Coles and Woolworths in the Australian liquor market. [21]
Brian has been the recipient of several accolades, including:
Roseworthy Agricultural College was an agricultural college in Australia. It was 50 km (31 mi) north of Adelaide and 7 km (4.3 mi) west of Roseworthy town. It was the first agricultural college in Australia, established in 1883. It is now part of the University of Adelaide.
Ridge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California. The original winery facilities are located at an elevation of 2,300 feet on Monte Bello Ridge in unincorporated Santa Clara County in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, south of Los Altos, California and west of Cupertino, California. The other Ridge winery facilities are at Lytton Springs in the Dry Creek Valley AVA of Sonoma County. Ridge Vineyard's 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon gained prominence for its fifth-place finish in the 1976 "Judgment of Paris" wine tasting.
The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor to the Australian economy through production, employment, export, and tourism.
Émile Peynaud was a French oenologist and researcher who has been credited with revolutionizing winemaking in the latter half of the 20th century, and has been called "the forefather of modern oenology".
Bollinger is a French Champagne house, a producer of luxury sparkling wines from the Champagne region. They produce several labels of Champagne under the Bollinger name, including the vintage Vieilles Vignes Françaises, Grande Année and R.D. as well as the non-vintage Special Cuvée. Founded in 1829 in Aÿ by Hennequin de Villermont, Paul Renaudin and Jacques Bollinger, the house continues to be run by members of the Bollinger family. In Britain, Bollinger Champagnes are affectionately known as "Bolly".
The South Australian wine industry is responsible for more than half the production of all Australian wine. South Australia has a vast diversity in geography and climate which allows the state to be able to produce a range of grape varieties–from the cool climate Riesling variety in the Clare Valley wine region to the big, full bodied Shiraz wines of the Barossa Valley.
Stony Hill Vineyard is located south of the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park in the northern reaches of the city of Saint Helena, California. The vineyard is a family-owned business which remained under family control after the death of the founders in 1977. Annual output as of 2007 was 3,400 cases from 40 planted acres (160,000 m2), c. 60% of which are planted with Chardonnay. The vineyard's business model focuses on mail order sales direct to individuals in California and indirectly to individuals in other states of the United States, as well as sales to fine-dining restaurants in major metropolitan areas in the United States.
Smith-Madrone Vineyards and Winery is a winery in Napa Valley in the Spring Mountain District AVA. It was founded in 1971 by Stuart Smith. The name Smith-Madrone comes from combining the founders' name with the madrone trees among the estate. The winery is a long-time pioneer of dry farming.
Reif Estate Winery is located in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada. Reif Estate is primarily known for playing an important in role pioneering the Ontario wine Industry, as well as planting some of the first Vitis vinifera vines in the Niagara region.
Anakena is a privately owned winery based in the Alto Cachapoal area of the Rapel Valley of Chile. It produces a variety of styles. In September 2015 Anakena was bought by Accolade Wines for $30 million.
Giaconda is an Australian winery in Beechworth, Victoria.
Grosset Wines is an Australian winery based in the Clare Valley wine region of South Australia.
Cullen Wines is an Australian winery based in Wilyabrup, within the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia.
Kingston Estate winery was established in 1979 by Sarantos and Constantina Moularadellis.
A Ningxia wine is any wine produced in the Chinese province of Ningxia. Since large producers moved into the region in the 1980s and local producer successes at wine competitions in the 2010s spurred further development, Ningxia has become one of the premier wine regions in China.
Chinook is a Washington winery located in the Yakima Valley AVA. Founded in 1983 by the wife and husband team of Kay Simon and Clay Mackey, Chinook was one of the pioneering wineries that established Prosser, Washington as a major wine-producing region in Washington state. Kay Simon, who began her career after graduating in 1976 from University of California-Davis in California's San Joaquin Valley and at Chateau Ste. Michelle, was one of the first female winemaker in Washington State. Chinook wines are widely regarded for their quality and help spread recognition for Washington wines. They are considered by wine experts such as Paul Gregutt to be "the classic expression of Yakima Valley fruit". Chinook's work with Cabernet franc, in particular, has garnered the statewide acclaim with the dry Cabernet franc rosé often described in wine reviews as a "Washington Chinon".
Benjamin Cane is an Australian winemaker who currently owns Duke's Vineyard in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
Robert Stein Wines trace their winemaking history back to 1838, when the Macarthur family brought Johann Stein to Australia with the country's first cuttings of Rhine Riesling. 138 years later, in 1976, Robert ‘Bob’ Stein purchased 75 acres in Mudgee and planted vines. Robert Stein Winery currently have approximately 20 wines.
Hermann J. Wiemer is the founder of Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard, a winery specializing in Rieslings in Dundee, New York.
Anthony "Tony" Douglas Jordan was an Australian winemaker and oenologist.