By Andy Young
Neil McGuigan has said that his premium wine, Philosophy, has helped the company to "lift the bar" on everything they do.
Speaking at a lunch to launch the new wine this week, McGuigan said that he felt that improving winemaking techniques for the Philosophy would help improve the quality of the company's entry level wines, such as Black Label.
McGuigan said: "When I came back to the business in 2004 I asked our senior winemaker, 'how hard is it to make a $10 bottle of wine?'.
"He told me that with all the gear we have it is not hard at all, and I said 'that's the problem', and I told him that I wanted to make a $150 bottle of wine.
"That's not something that you just decide to do one day; to do that you have to have all the standard operating procedures, the people, the processes and the passion every day. Then you put some outstanding fruit through and you have the possibility of making a $150 bottle of wine. And that is what we have done.
"By having that attitude and having that excellence coming into your winemaking, you lift the bar on everything that you do."
He added: "So all of a sudden your $10 bottle of wine starts to taste like a $12 bottle of wine; you start to over deliver. And that excellence in winemaking has now gone through the whole business; it started with the wine and now all divisions have excellence as their criteria. That's why Philosophy has been so important to us, it has lifted the bar."
The 2102 Philosophy features fruit from Langhorne Creek, Clare and Barossa Valleys and been created as an Australian Bordeaux. Aged in French and American oak for two years prior to bottling, the wine has spent a further two years in bottle to ensure adequate maturation. The Philosophy 2012 is available from selected quality retailers with a $150 RRP and more information is available through the McGuigan's website.