Now that I’m back from Australia, I’ve compiled the following small but quirky list of highs and lows:
Most Pleasant Surprise (Barrel Tasting Division): Pinot Noir from Brian Croser’s new Foggy Hill vineyard way down on the Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide. This 10-acre vineyard sits atop a craggy hillside, above the fog line most days. It looks like Sonoma Coast, and the wines taste like they come from it. The first wines, from 2007, are destined for the Tapanappa label Croser owns with Jean-Michel Cazes of Bordeaux and Bollinger of Champagne. If they make it into the bottle with the flavor profile, texture and length they showed in the barrel, they could be the best Pinots in Australia.
