In the 50s and 60s Bill Taylor snr worked in hotels and pubs. Sensing a growing interest among his patrons for wines, the Taylors label came into being in the late 60s. Great move, Grandpa, your grandchildren have taken your vision to new heights.
2013 Taylors Jaraman Shiraz
A drop in price for this Jaraman collection that celebrates regional diversity, but hardly a major drop in quality, with a duet of grapes from the Clare Valley and McLaren Vale. The former delivers strong robust flavours of plum, cherry, blackberry and liquorice, while McLaren Vale provides
dark chocolate, spice and ripe berries. This is a full-bodied, no-nonsense wine with a smooth, multi-layered finish. A thoroughly reliable and great value "house wine".
Price: $25
2012 Taylors St Andrews Chardonnay
According to third-generation marketing manager Justin Taylor, "Our tannin structure is what we try and have in our wines as our point of difference."
It's certainly working. St Andrews is the premium label for Taylors and this is a premium chardonnay. Finely honed, thanks to time in French oak, it has a light, most pleasant, oily texture with mouth-filling flavours of melon, lemon, lime, peach and an alluring nuttiness. A refined chardonnay, oozing character.
Price: $60
2009 Taylors The Visionary Clare Valley Estate
This is cabernet sauvignon and one of the finest wines ever produced in Australia. Big call, big price and thoroughly deserved big reputation. This wine is powerful yet sublime in its elegance, with a rainbow of flavours, bramble, red fruit, mocha, cassis and violets and a seamless, effortless finish. It is neither brutish nor bruising, just beautifully balanced and made only in exceptional vintages. As they say, "Nothing is out of place in this wine."
Price: $180
