Interview with Brian Croser [transcript] Interviewer: Rob Linn

Brian Croser was born in Millicent in March 1948. His father comes from a farming family going back to 1848 at Rapid Bay. His mother was from a Scottish farming family from the South East. He grew up at Clare and was a boarder at Scotch College, growing up near vineyards. The family moved to Adelaide when he was 15; he left school in 1965; went to Flinders University in 1967 and studied Agricultural Science with a view to a career in wine. Tom Hardy agreed to support his further studies and apprenticed him to go to Davis. Jack Kilgour was a consultant for Tom Hardy. Brian studied at Davis for 3 months and travelled for three months in Europe. He wrote a thesis on hydrogen sulphide and returned to Hardys and made wine for them at Waikerie and Tintara, mainly Rieslings. He became their roving winemaker including working in 1975 at Siegersdorf. He wanted to be a chief winemaker so went to Charles Sturt as a lecturer. He wrote the course and lectured and built the university's winery in 1977. Also consulted for San Bernadino at Griffith and made the prize winning Gewurztraminer for Petaluma in 1977. Stayed at Wagga Wagga teaching until 1978, then set up a consultancy company Petaluma which also made its own wine. He talks about Len Evans and Peter Fox and building a winery at Piccadilly for Chardonnay sparkling wine. He went to California with Evans and Fox and bought property on the Silverado trail and designed a winery. Fox died in 1981. They borrowed heavily and were able to keep Petaluma. He went to America in 1985 and set up a winery/business in Oregon with Roland Soles. He bought property at Mt Barker to grow Shiraz and the Bridgewater Mill for use as a wine cellar. The biggest change has been through technology. He talks about the evolution of wine making and the future of the Australian industry

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