Croser has been one of the key figures in the Australian wine industry for 35 years. Educated at the University of Adelaide, where he was deputy chancellor for eight years, and at UC Davis in California, Croser was been a winemaker, educator and judge. He formed Petaluma in the Adelaide Hills in 1976 and was a regional pioneer. He now owns the Tapanappa label in partnership with two leading French wine families and is true to his belief in “site-specific” wines. He makes a chardonnay from his family’s Tiers vineyard in the Adelaide Hills, red blends from the Limestone Coast and a pinot noir from the Fleurieu Peninsula. A former president of the Winemakers Federation of Australia, he was named “Man of the Year” in 2004 by leading British wine magazine Decanter.
