Beginnings After graduating, Croser sought a company that would sponsor him to complete a Master's degree, finding it in the winemaker
Thomas Hardy and Sons. He worked there in quality control and research and development. After 2.5 years, he moved to the United States to study
oenology at the
Davis campus of the
University of California. By this time he was in a relationship with his future wife Ann, and she accompanied him to the US, providing additional financial support with her work as a biochemist. They would be married by the middle of the decade. Back in Australia in 1974, When production problems arose, Croser determined he was too inexperienced to resolve them, and in December he left to work at the Riverina College of Advanced Education, today part of
Charles Sturt University. There, he started the wine science program with
Tony Jordan. To add a practical component to their program, in 1977 a winery was built in an old
olive oil press; the 1977 vintage received several awards., the site of the Tiers vineyard and the Croser family home In 1976, Croser started a winery, naming it Petaluma after
the city in California. To do so, he planted grapes in the regions that best suited them:
Riesling in
Clare and
Cabernet Sauvignon in
Wrattonbully, among others. Petaluma was opened in 1979, These Rieslings were noted for their low prices and high quality.
Oenotec As part of his contract with Riverina College, Croser could 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. 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. Their advice focused on promoting anaerobic and hygienic wine production. Following Oenotec, other wine consultancy firms were started. which Croser notes significantly affected him. While working at Petaluma, Croser acted as a professional mentor. As of 2023, it produces chardonnay under the Tapanappa label. 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. Bollinger had previously been an early investor in Petaluma. It was renamed the Whalebone vineyard, and the winery was called Tapanappa, after an Aboriginal word for "stick to the path." 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. He helped create the
Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology. He was president of the Australian Winemakers Forum, which he formed in 1984. By 2024, Croser was writing his a memoir. == Personal life ==