Summary from Guy Woodward’s Blog (Decanter’s (UK)editor):
http://www.decanter.com/specials/290712.html
In the Clare Valley Wednesday 28 October 2009
…Jeffrey Grosset, my first port of call, is operating at a somewhat different end of the market (to Blue Nun). The creator of the renowned Polish Hill is in no small way responsible for the region’s stellar reputation with the grape, but even he’s not impervious to market conditions. He told me how he had been summoned to the UK by his agent David Gleave of importer Liberty Wines, which has a strong Australian list. Such is Gleave’s concern at the challenges faced in selling premium Australian wine, he wants as many winemakers as possible to get out and about in the trade next year.
Grosset is a compelling character. We drove around come of his sites, looking at the difference between Polish Hill and Watervale. He asked me what I wanted to talk about. I told him regionality, the Australian dilemma, the world market, Riesling around the world, etc. Too much detail about soil types and clones would be wasted on me, I said, and were more appropriate for Andrew Jefford, the Decanter columnist who is spending a year out here studying terroir.
Half an hour later, he finished his first stream of consciousness on geology, vine age and topography. I must admit that I have been known to glaze over on such topics. Not here. Grosset’s commitment to his craft is mindblowing, and it is easy to see why he is held in such awe by his Clare counterparts…
