Taylors Wines has unveiled its inaugural Family Flagship Release, a collection of the top wines in the Taylors portfolio, including the second vintage of the group’s pinnacle wine, The Legacy.
The 10 wines in the inaugural Family Flagship Release represent five vintages, with four St Andrews wines, three from the Masterstroke range, plus The Pioneer, The Visionary and The Legacy.
Speaking at the launch event last week, Managing Director Mitchell Taylor said: “The Pioneer is named after my father Bill Taylor, who really was the pioneering spirit of Taylors Wines as we went on this exciting venture. He had the tenacity to keep going and the foresight for wines. The original plan was actually to make a French-style Chateau wine, with only Cabernet Sauvignon. But Bill insisted, and thank goodness he did, that if we were going to go on this red Chateau venture, it could not be 100 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, and we must have some Syrah.
“I’ll never forget that pioneering spirit of Bill as a kid watching the winery getting built and seeing these chainsaws cutting through the Cabernet wines and I could see dad tearing up and I asked him what was going on and he said to me, ‘never forget son, we’re not in the wine business, we are in the fashion business’. And what was happening was he was grafting those beautiful Cabernet vines to put in Clare Valley Riesling.
“And then of course you have Big Bill, my grandfather who was The Visionary. He was a publican and really did have a love for those great Bordeaux wines and through the distribution company he spoke to a number of the Bordeaux winemakers. They told him that sometimes they can find it difficult to get the grapes to ripen, and his vision was that we have great sunshine in Australia, and that will always ripen Cabernet grapes.”
The Legacy 2015, the second vintage release of Taylors pinnacle wine, celebrates the family winery’s founding purpose – to craft a New World wine that could stand tall against the iconic wines of the Old World.
“The fruit from the 2015 vintage was exceptional – in both yield and quality. Cabernet enjoyed an extended time on vine during this vintage, resulting in a beautiful harmony of acid structure and fruit concentration. The journey of building each part of this wine is incredibly fulfilling. From there, it’s a test of patience while the wine matures in a selection of exceptionally rare barrels from Jean Louis Vicard,” Taylor said.
Most of the wines feature Clare Valley fruit, grown on the family’s Estate, with additional fruit from the Coonawarra and McLaren Vale sourced for the new release Masterstroke collection.
Taylor said: “The Clare is a hidden gem of the Australian wine scene – my grandfather knew it all those years ago when he first founded our family winery.
“It’s inspiring to see how far our winery has come since my grandfather first set foot in the Clare Valley to start our family on this incredible journey. From our first Estate wines in the early 70s to now releasing a collection of wines that showcase the depth and diversity of our winemaking skill – it’s a humbling and exciting experience.”
The release date of 20 July is highly symbolic for the Taylor family. Not only was it the same day more than 50 years ago that two American astronauts landed on the moon, but it was the day Bill Taylor first stepped onto the rich terra rossa soils of what was to become the Taylors Clare Valley Estate.