Grosset’s grapes

Jeff Grosset has been the crusader of two campaigns to bring lasting change to Australia’s wine industry.

Jeff Grosset is the founder and owner of his eponymous Clare Valley winery, while his life (not business) partner Stephanie Toole runs Mount Horrocks wines. There is a business link, with all the wines being made in the Grosset winery from certified organic grapes.

Grosset has the quiet, introspective speech of a long-serving academic, utterly at odds with a party-animal social spirit and a love of fast cars (qualities matched by Toole). His achievements in and for the wine industry are such that it is surprising he hasn't been a recipient of an Order of Australia, but it can't be far away.

He has been the crusader of two campaigns to bring lasting change to the industry. First came a drive to restrict the use of the word riesling to wine made from that grape. The word was once used by all major companies for an ill-defined style of white wine, dry or off dry, made from the cheapest varieties at their disposal.

He was also the spokesman and chief cat herder for the move by all Clare Valley riesling winemakers to adopt screwcaps for their 1990 vintage rieslings. Today, more than 98 per cent of Australian white wines sold in this country are screwcapped. Having been part of the pre and post 1990 wine environment, I can say no one fully anticipated the benefits of the change.

While the elimination of cork taint was predictable, the extent of the retention of brightness of colour, of the flowery, fragrant aromas and the purity and freshness of the flavours has been the massive payback.

Grosset and Toole both decided long ago not to increase the size of their production - 11,000 and 3500 dozen bottles per annum respectively.

That hasn't meant sitting back satisfied: both strive for perfection and innovation, judiciously adding small volumes of alternative varieties and styles, he with fiano, she with nero d'Avola.

2016 GROSSET POLISH HILL CLARE RIESLING

Made using free-run juice and fermented with a neutral cultured yeast. The bouquet is gloriously floral with sweet lemon blossom aromas, the palate with diamond-cut purity and clarity.

Natural acidity is part of the DNA of this classic wine, underlining its spring day freshness.

12.7% alc, screwcap 97 points, drink to 2026, $55

2016 GROSSET APIANA

A 60/40% blend of semillon and fiano, the latter a very ancient and highly regarded grape from Campania in southern Italy. The components are whole bunch-pressed and separately fermented in tank; the wine has wildflower nuances to the striking bouquet, and an incredible tactile grip on the mid-palate.

13% alc, screwcap 95 points, drink to 2025, $40

2014 MOUNT HORROCKS NERO D'AVOLA

Nero d'Avola is Sicily's most widely planted red variety, currently with much attention. This wine spent 18 months in French oak, its crimson colour heralding a fragrant bouquet of spicy red fruits, and the medium-bodied palate providing a zesty replay.

13.5% alc, screwcap 94 points, drink to 2024, $37