05 Jun Off the Vine, Season 1, Ep 7
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Taylors Vineyard. Still proudly family owned, Bill Taylor is chief executive officer of the company. His eldest son Mitchell is managing director and continues the tradition of family winemaking. Younger sons Justin and Clinton have key roles in national sales and marketing. The Taylor family were wine merchants in Sydney before establishing the now famous winery in the Clare Valley, South Australia. In 1969, Bill Taylor Sr., along with his sons John and Bill, purchased a holding of 178 hectares by the Wakefield River in Auburn and planted Cabernet Sauvignon. The excellent Bordeaux wines such as Mouton-Rothschild had long held a fascination for the Taylor brothers and this led them to strive towards producing wines of comparable quality in Australia. In 1973 the first Taylor’s estate grown and bottled Cabernet Sauvignon received gold medals at every national wine show. Since then every vintage produced has won awards in national and international wine shows. The site of the original Taylor’s vineyard had been carefully chosen for the red brown loam over limestone soils (known as terra rossa) and the cool climate of the Clare Valley. Before long, a further 145 hectares were purchased and plantings of Chardonnay, Shiraz and Riesling were added. With thoughts firmly fixed on the successful future of Taylor’s Wines, the family aptly named the new addition the "Promised Land". In 1995 the expansion continued with the purchase of two adjoining properties, totaling 405 hectares, alongside the existing Taylor’s estate. Next door to the Taylor’s property was a sleepy winery originally founded in 1896 but it had not been in operation since 1934. In 1995 the Taylor family purchased the property and immediately set about the task of re-creating history with the rebirth of the St. Andrew’s label. Taylor’s saw an opportunity to showcase handcrafted, premium wines that would encapsulate the very best of the estate’s Clare Valley varietal fruit. So it was that in 1999 the first of the St. Andrew’s wines were released to resounding applause by both loyal customers and industry heavyweights alike.