Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Clare Valley - Mitchell Taylor - Taylors Wines
105 Plays3 years ago
On this week’s episode of Fine Vines and Wine, I’m joined by Mitchell Taylor, managing director and third generation winemaker at Taylors Wines.
This episode is jampacked with interesting wine chats, important inititives, and bottles you’ll want to add straight to your collection. We talk about how Mitchell started working in the wine industry from a very young age, the story of how he found himself working back at the family business after several years in the finiancial world, and the advantages of being able to see how a business runs from, and work in, multiple different roles to experience the journey of a wine from the vine to someone enjoying it in a restaurant.
We discuss how the wine industry and the wines produced are almost determined by trends and what’s in fashion for that season, the complexity of the industry and what goes on behind a successful brand with the challenges that may arise plus the steps taken to maintain a 5* winery rating from James Halliday himself.
We also delve into the depths and learn all about their new initiative, Sea BnB, which is an amazing concept that Mitchell Taylor is extremely passionate about, Taylors’ stance on sustainability and their aim of making the winery better for each generation to come, and how Taylors Wines and other winemakers in Australia are working together to share the rich Australian wine history with the global market through Australian First Families of Wine.
So grab yourself a big glass of Shiraz (it is National Shiraz day after all), sit back and relax with this week’s episode.
All Wines Mentioned In This Week's Episode Will Be Listed On My Instagram @finevinesandwine.
Links:
https://www.taylorswines.com.au
https://www.instagram.com/taylorswines/
Https://www.instagram.com/finevinesandwine https://www.seabnb.com.au
https://sustainablewinegrowing.com.au
https://www.australiasfirstfamiliesofwine.com.au
https://www.wineaustralia.com
https://www.agw.org.au
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Acknowledgements
00:00:07
Speaker
Hi everyone and welcome to Fine Vines and Wine.
00:00:10
Speaker
I'm your host Karis Pixie and each week I'll be giving you all an insight into the behind the scenes of our favourite beverage, wine.
00:00:18
Speaker
I'd love for you to use this podcast platform as a winery guide for your next weekend away.
00:00:23
Speaker
exploring everything Australia has to offer.
00:00:26
Speaker
You never know, you might discover a new spot or two to visit.
00:00:30
Speaker
I acknowledge the Cadigal and the Niduri peoples, traditional custodians of the land that we recorded today's podcast episode on.
00:00:37
Speaker
I pay my respects to the elders past, present and emerging, for they hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the nation.
Mitchell Taylor Joins the Podcast
00:00:49
Speaker
On this week's episode of Fine Vines and Wine, I'm joined by Mitchell Taylor, Managing Director and Third Generation Winemaker at Taylor's.
00:00:57
Speaker
Thank you so much for joining me today.
00:01:00
Speaker
How has your week been?
00:01:01
Speaker
Well, the week's been great.
00:01:02
Speaker
Very busy running around the country finally, apart from Melbourne.
00:01:08
Speaker
But all very good, thanks.
00:01:11
Speaker
Oh, amazing.
00:01:11
Speaker
Yeah, I was meant to go to Melbourne last weekend, but yeah, unfortunately didn't go.
00:01:16
Speaker
So we'll have to try and go next time.
00:01:19
Speaker
So I'm just going to jump straight into the questions.
Winemaking Journey and Industry Insights
00:01:21
Speaker
How long have you been working in wine for?
00:01:24
Speaker
Yeah, I've been working in wine ever since I was a little kid.
00:01:28
Speaker
In fact, I remember working for 40 cents a day.
00:01:32
Speaker
on the bottling line at Taylor's.
00:01:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:35
Speaker
So, and when I worked all day, I can remember it was on the end of the bottling line.
00:01:40
Speaker
I was putting the caps on the big flagons of sherry at the time.
00:01:45
Speaker
But I actually then, after my first day's work, gave 20 cents of it to my mum for lodging.
00:01:52
Speaker
So she was pleased that I didn't forget the family that helped me get there.
00:01:59
Speaker
So, yeah, I've grown up around...
00:02:02
Speaker
the winery as a young boy.
00:02:04
Speaker
Did a lot of picking over the school holidays at vintage time.
00:02:09
Speaker
Always loved being in and around it, seeing my father, you know, build a business from its early days.
00:02:18
Speaker
But also always was told to go out and make my own way in the world.
00:02:25
Speaker
And while the wine business is a good business, I always remember the time that
00:02:30
Speaker
when I first saw my father almost close to tears as we were going through the vineyard and there were chainsaws and we were cutting off the chainsaws of these beautiful old vines of Cabernet and Shiraz and we were grafting them over to a new white variety at the time called Chardonnay that had just basically arrived in Australia.
00:02:55
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:02:56
Speaker
And I said, Dad, why are you doing this?
00:02:58
Speaker
And he said, just remember one thing, son, we're not in the wine business, we're in the fashion business.
00:03:06
Speaker
Yes.
00:03:06
Speaker
I always remember that one from the early days.
00:03:10
Speaker
Oh, no, definitely.
00:03:11
Speaker
Yeah, I kind of feel like, I guess, yeah, as a winemaker, you'd have to see what's popular at the moment.
00:03:17
Speaker
So like when Rosé was really popular and then Chardonnay took a dip.
00:03:21
Speaker
And I think Chardonnay is coming back again now, which is good because they did take a big sort of dip.
00:03:27
Speaker
Yeah, and that's quite exciting for us as winemakers because we understand it's a quality grape and there are a lot of things you can do with it in the wineries.
00:03:37
Speaker
And we've had probably, again, on the fashion side, with Savion Blanc, we've had a lot of it coming in.
00:03:44
Speaker
But now the market, again, being a fashion industry, I think people are starting to say, you know what, there's more to white wine than just, you know, glasses of Savion Blanc.
00:03:56
Speaker
Yes, no, definitely.
00:03:58
Speaker
No, I used to, before I started sort of studying wine, getting more into it, I used to only drink rosé.
00:04:04
Speaker
I was very much a rosé person.
00:04:06
Speaker
But no, now I've started studying and getting into
Taylor's Winery History and Milestones
00:04:09
Speaker
it more.
00:04:09
Speaker
I definitely am trying everything.
00:04:11
Speaker
How long has Taylor's been around for?
00:04:14
Speaker
We just celebrated our 50th anniversary.
00:04:18
Speaker
We did have a company before we established the winery called South Australian Wine
00:04:26
Speaker
distributors and that used to supply wines from all over South Australia and also other parts of the world into the hotels that the family owned.
00:04:38
Speaker
But then we decided back in 1969 to sell out of some of the hotels and started up a beautiful winery in the southern end of the Clare Valley on beautiful, it was an old dairy, beautiful terra rossa soils and
00:04:55
Speaker
And I'll always remember, because I was a very young boy at the time, only about five or six, that my grandfather was
00:05:03
Speaker
Big Bill always said, because he was originally a dairy farmer from Bega, that he said if the family are going back onto the land, one thing we must do is build a dam.
00:05:18
Speaker
And so as we built the dam in what was the driest state in the driest continent in the world, beautiful Terrarossa soils in the limestone, we found fossilised seahorses.
00:05:32
Speaker
So they were actually used as the symbol for the tailor's label of the three generations establishing that winery just over 50 years ago that show that lovely delicate balance that's required for making great wine.
00:05:51
Speaker
So can you, because you've obviously been working in wine for a very long time, as you said, do you have a most memorable moment that you've experienced?
00:05:59
Speaker
Yes.
00:06:00
Speaker
Yeah, look, I've had many moments, but what I would probably say was always that moment of your first vintage when you made your first wine.
00:06:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:11
Speaker
And a bit like...
00:06:13
Speaker
You know, I'd gone to winemaking school.
00:06:16
Speaker
I'd learned all the technical side.
00:06:19
Speaker
But it was a bit like, you know, when you're learning to ride a bicycle and you just get off the trainer wheels and you've got that sort of confidence.
00:06:30
Speaker
But at the same time,
00:06:32
Speaker
You're not sure whether the wine's going to turn out right or if you've ruined these beautiful grapes.
00:06:38
Speaker
So to me, that was a very memorable moment.
00:06:42
Speaker
And we did it with some beautiful little batch of Riesling.
00:06:48
Speaker
I was left to my own devices and, you know, it turned out okay.
00:06:53
Speaker
It was probably not a hard one to, you know, get wrong.
00:06:59
Speaker
But for me at the time, it was certainly a very memorable and satisfying experience.
00:07:05
Speaker
And I still love, you know, bringing out bottles of this old Riesling now and just, you know,
00:07:11
Speaker
enjoying that particular wine because it has matured quite nicely over the years.
00:07:18
Speaker
Oh, amazing.
00:07:19
Speaker
And I guess that when you're drinking it, you have that memory as well, which is really nice too.
00:07:24
Speaker
Yeah, definitely.
00:07:25
Speaker
Have you always worked for Taylor's Wines or have you sort of worked for other wineries and then come back to the family business?
00:07:32
Speaker
Yeah, we were always encouraged to go off and, you know, do our own thing to develop our own careers.
00:07:40
Speaker
And so I had a lot of good connections.
00:07:43
Speaker
So I went overseas and we were very good friends with the Lanson family at the time.
00:07:50
Speaker
So I was able to work a little bit in Champagne.
00:07:53
Speaker
Oh, awesome.
00:07:54
Speaker
Yeah, so that was a lot of fun.
00:07:56
Speaker
I did my own things too in finance and off-broking because I had a business degree.
00:08:03
Speaker
But I always tell the funny story about how I got back
00:08:06
Speaker
into the family business, because while I grew up around it, I'd already started to develop my own career.
00:08:13
Speaker
But one day a box arrives at Taylor's.
00:08:17
Speaker
No one knew what to do with this box.
00:08:20
Speaker
It actually sat on the desk for about six to 12 months.
00:08:25
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:08:27
Speaker
Our accountant finally rang me up because I was working in a stockbroking firm and he said, look, can you help your family show them how to plug in a computer?
00:08:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:41
Speaker
start the process.
00:08:42
Speaker
So I said, look, I'll do that.
00:08:44
Speaker
I'll just come in.
00:08:45
Speaker
I said to my father, yeah, I'll come in for three months and help with that project.
00:08:50
Speaker
But when I did it, I actually was able to see a lot of the inside of the business.
00:08:56
Speaker
You know, I'd done all the pruning and the picking and worked as a seller hand.
00:09:02
Speaker
in the bottling line, but it was terrific to sort of see it, you know, from a technological aspect of improving things and seeing the systems.
00:09:13
Speaker
So that was a great introduction into how the business operated, but also that three months, I just loved it so much that I decided to stay on.
00:09:26
Speaker
and you know get away from that boring world of finance and smoking and all those numbers oh awesome now I kind of feel like as well it's good to have the winemaking skills but then also have the behind the scenes business skills as well because then you can really help the business grow yeah definitely and always been
00:09:48
Speaker
One of those areas that, you know, I've really loved about the business in that you can see, you know, what's it like to start off by planning a vineyard but then getting the concept right all the way through.
Sustainability and Conservation Initiatives
00:10:02
Speaker
So you're able to watch a consumer enjoy your passion and your labour that started several years ago but watch them enjoy the wine while they're sitting, you know, at the other side of the world.
00:10:17
Speaker
in a beautiful restaurant.
00:10:19
Speaker
So I've always loved that value-added component and the complexity of the wine industry because we are farmers, we are winemakers, we are marketers, we are manufacturers, we are exporters.
00:10:35
Speaker
So it really does challenge you in many, many different areas of business and winemaking.
00:10:44
Speaker
Yeah, definitely.
00:10:45
Speaker
No, I can definitely see that.
00:10:47
Speaker
Going back to the tailor's label and the seahorse design, I saw recently on your Instagram that you're a part of the initiative CB&B.
00:10:59
Speaker
Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
00:11:01
Speaker
Yeah, that's a great initiative that we've kicked off with the family and the team today.
00:11:07
Speaker
at Taylors where we really have always loved, you know, the seahorse emblem, but also we're very passionate about my father, brothers and the whole family about growing up around in Australia, around the harbours and the beaches.
00:11:28
Speaker
And so we've been really, with our environmental responsibility, we've really looked at the...
00:11:36
Speaker
the impact that some of these endangered species have.
00:11:40
Speaker
And we've always loved the seahorse because it's such a delicate, beautiful fish at the bottom of the food chain.
00:11:48
Speaker
But it is also the slowest fish.
00:11:51
Speaker
Oh, wow, okay.
00:11:52
Speaker
As all the seagrass and we damage the habitat through anchors and moving in, the seahorse is getting a bit exposed.
00:12:02
Speaker
So it is on the endangered list.
00:12:04
Speaker
So we thought it would be a great opportunity because as winemakers we see the impact of climate change.
00:12:13
Speaker
We notice that our vintages are getting earlier each year, the windows to harvest grapes are getting shorter, but we also see the impact that's happening also in the oceans.
00:12:26
Speaker
So we wanted to give back, look after and have this initiative where quite cleverly with people not being able to travel over the COVID period, we thought that they could book into a CBNB.
00:12:43
Speaker
by giving a donation book into one of these seahorse hotels, which are basically just big cages that we've set at the bottom of the harbours and rivers where the seahorses can actually get into these cages.
00:12:58
Speaker
They can breed.
00:13:00
Speaker
They don't have other fish eating them.
00:13:02
Speaker
And they also have a chance for the seagrass and all the seaweed to grow in around them.
00:13:08
Speaker
so they can camouflage and prosper.
00:13:11
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:13:12
Speaker
We just launched about 18 of these hotels with the initiative on CBNB, and it's really exciting to see that the seahorses are already in the hotels and are starting to breed.
00:13:26
Speaker
So it's a lovely thing that we've teamed up with the people at SIMS, the Institute of Marine Science, and it's really an exciting initiative.
00:13:38
Speaker
for the family and the business that we're doing at Taylor's Wines.
00:13:43
Speaker
Oh, definitely.
00:13:44
Speaker
How did you get involved in that?
00:13:45
Speaker
Did they reach out to you or was it sort of a kind of approach?
00:13:49
Speaker
I was lucky enough to come across Sims.
00:13:51
Speaker
One night I went out with a group of friends where we watched them tagging, of all things, bull sharks in Sydney Harbour.
00:14:02
Speaker
And we saw them tagging about three bull sharks.
00:14:05
Speaker
But I got to meet all the scientists and I talked to them about how they were doing this to preserve the sharks.
00:14:13
Speaker
And so they were tracking them where they were.
00:14:16
Speaker
But so it enabled me to talk to them about all the initiatives that they're doing.
00:14:21
Speaker
And I naturally said, well, look, I've always been a big fan of
00:14:25
Speaker
of the seahorse because it's the emblem and the good luck symbol of starting our family business.
00:14:31
Speaker
Yes.
00:14:31
Speaker
But then they started to tell me about the exciting initiatives that they're wanting to do.
00:14:38
Speaker
But they also said, you know, from lack of funding, you've just got to be concerned that people
00:14:43
Speaker
the seahorse might not always be with us.
00:14:47
Speaker
So when I heard that, you know, I talked to the family and the team at Taylors and we all thought it was a natural fit for where we wanted to go.
00:14:58
Speaker
Oh, no, definitely.
00:14:59
Speaker
No, it sounds great.
00:15:01
Speaker
I'll have to have a little bit more of a look into it.
00:15:03
Speaker
And I'll also link for everyone at the bottom of the bio so they can all see how they can help as well.
00:15:09
Speaker
Yeah, all you have to do is just go in, cbnb.com.au.
00:15:13
Speaker
And we're trying to, you know, we've raised about $20,000, $30,000 every little bit of course.
00:15:22
Speaker
and we've got a target of 150 so hopefully as we're wanting to peel this project out around the world so yeah just it's an exciting project and and hopefully we can help the seahorses all around the globe oh definitely and how much does it cost to install like one of the cbmb hotels
00:15:46
Speaker
Each one costs the team roughly about $500, you know.
00:15:53
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:15:54
Speaker
Do several at a time.
00:15:55
Speaker
So that's why when anyone goes to the site, any little donation is...
00:16:01
Speaker
And there are various layers.
00:16:04
Speaker
You can buy cheaper rooms or you can get a suite.
00:16:09
Speaker
But yeah, every little bit helps on what people can donate to what I believe is a very worthwhile course.
00:16:17
Speaker
Definitely.
00:16:18
Speaker
I agree.
00:16:19
Speaker
And I love the concept as well.
00:16:20
Speaker
It's such a great idea.
00:16:22
Speaker
Talking, I guess that leads into one of my questions about sustainability, which I saw on your website that you're very passionate about.
00:16:32
Speaker
What goes into creating a successful and sustainable wine business and why is sustainability so important to Taylors?
00:16:39
Speaker
Yeah, because we are the third-generation family business, it really is in our DNA.
00:16:48
Speaker
My father, Bill, always said, you know, you're in charge now and handed over the responsibility, but it's always been emphasised within our business that, you know, we want to be successful, but we want to hand
00:17:05
Speaker
the quality of our vineyards, the quality of our business back in better hands to the next generation than what the previous one received.
00:17:16
Speaker
And so what we've done is also become quite innovative in this space.
00:17:22
Speaker
And I'm really proud of the team where we actually, from cradle to grave, created the world's first carbon neutral wine.
00:17:31
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:17:32
Speaker
Yeah, it was our 80 acres wine range.
00:17:36
Speaker
which was from some of our original vineyards over 50 years ago where we measured the footprint all the way from the start.
00:17:51
Speaker
of making the wine, in growing the grapes, all the way to the end when we transport it over to the other side of the world for consumption.
00:18:02
Speaker
So we covered our carbon footprint, and I'm really excited to say that we've also just recently signed up to science-based targets.
00:18:12
Speaker
Okay.
00:18:16
Speaker
2030, we really want to reduce significantly our total carbon footprint across the entire business.
00:18:24
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:18:24
Speaker
That's
Sustainable Wine Production Explained
00:18:25
Speaker
amazing.
00:18:25
Speaker
And congratulations on the carbon neutral wine as well.
00:18:28
Speaker
This might be a stupid question, but with the carbon neutral wine, is that also you're looking at the winemaking process as well?
00:18:37
Speaker
Yes, definitely.
00:18:38
Speaker
What we're looking at is how much carbon, you know, because fermenting a wine produces quite a lot of carbon dioxide.
00:18:47
Speaker
You've got to watch it in the actual winemaking process that you don't get too much that accumulates within the winery because it can be very dangerous because it...
00:18:59
Speaker
it falls to the bottom of the ground, so you don't want to be put in a pocket of it.
00:19:03
Speaker
And what we've discovered through the whole process is when we've measured that, we've looked to offset by doing various activities within our vineyard.
00:19:13
Speaker
Okay.
00:19:14
Speaker
You know, we've looked at the vines we plant.
00:19:17
Speaker
We look at the trees with all the windbreaks that we plant through the vineyard.
00:19:23
Speaker
And we've also, you know, we bring in sheep in the winter months to have all that lovely organic activity there and to build up the organic matter so that the soil is always of a high quality.
00:19:38
Speaker
So doing all these processes, we're now looking at installing for our power,
00:19:44
Speaker
solar panels on all our roofs.
00:19:47
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:19:48
Speaker
All of that goes back to the grid and actually, you know, gives us energy, particularly at our peak times during, you know, the middle of vintage when we need a lot of refrigeration through the summer months.
00:20:03
Speaker
Yes.
00:20:04
Speaker
And we're just looking at every process across the business.
00:20:07
Speaker
So there are lots of exciting ways.
00:20:09
Speaker
We're even looking at the packaging.
00:20:11
Speaker
We're coming up with the 80 acres with some revolutionary things
00:20:16
Speaker
flat-packed bottles that don't require glass.
00:20:20
Speaker
So we're really pushing the envelope, you know, in new areas of innovation, you know, where we can do, you know, better things.
00:20:29
Speaker
And we're also one of the founding members of Sustainable Wine Growing Australia.
00:20:35
Speaker
Yes.
00:20:35
Speaker
And that's all about looking at our vineyard inputs, reducing that environmental footprint and just building the
00:20:45
Speaker
business into being more efficient and, you know, having that awareness so that our end customers can see here is a family business that is really authentic and serious about making the environment and the world a better place to live in.
00:21:02
Speaker
Yes, definitely.
00:21:03
Speaker
No, that's amazing.
00:21:04
Speaker
I'm a big fan of sustainability as well.
00:21:06
Speaker
So it's so great to see a wine business doing so much towards that.
00:21:12
Speaker
With Sustainable Wine Growing Australia, is there a criteria you have to fall into in able to be a member?
00:21:19
Speaker
Yes, we are one of those members.
00:21:22
Speaker
And particularly when we did that initial work with the ISO environmental standard, which is 14,044 in creating the world's first carbon neutral wine, you know, that got the big tick.
00:21:38
Speaker
And now we're just in the process of getting certified not only our entire vineyard, but we're also bringing all our growers to
00:21:48
Speaker
along with the journey.
00:21:50
Speaker
So, you know, we have a lot of growers that we've been in partnership for a lot of years.
00:21:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:56
Speaker
So we're really getting that positive message across with them.
00:22:00
Speaker
So it takes a bit of work and communication and we're actually sharing what we're doing in our vineyard with
00:22:07
Speaker
with those growers so that we can just reduce you know the footprint and look at important things such as our use of water you know using water at night time in a more efficient manner so it doesn't evaporate you know that that is something so important in Australia yes because it is a limited supply and and we do
00:22:31
Speaker
have one of the driest climates in the world.
00:22:35
Speaker
Also looking at how we package things, how we can improve them, how we eliminate plastics.
00:22:42
Speaker
out of our whole packaging process.
00:22:45
Speaker
So it's a very long list.
00:22:49
Speaker
There's a lot of work the team have to do in measuring it all and then working at ways to reduce it.
00:22:57
Speaker
But we really do feel it's the right step to take across the business.
00:23:04
Speaker
So in order to be certified sustainable, is it like similar to being certified organic?
00:23:10
Speaker
Is it kind of held in that regard?
00:23:12
Speaker
It is, but it's more related to your efficiencies and your environmental footprint.
00:23:20
Speaker
And there's quite a thorough procedure.
00:23:23
Speaker
I sit on the board of Wine Australia and we've just got sustainable wine growing Australia up and running with the Australian...
00:23:32
Speaker
Wine Research Institute.
00:23:35
Speaker
And so we're just going through at the moment with all the details.
00:23:38
Speaker
So it is a very rigorous mapping situation where they look at everything from the inputs to the outputs of what you're using today.
00:23:50
Speaker
in the vineyards.
00:23:52
Speaker
So there's quite a lot of detail to it and then they come through, look at your practices, look at what you're currently doing and look at ways where you're reducing it and then getting certified.
00:24:06
Speaker
So with a bit of luck, we were one of the first to become members and with the new process that's just been launched,
00:24:16
Speaker
I think will be one of the first certified members.
00:24:21
Speaker
Oh, congratulations.
00:24:22
Speaker
That's amazing.
00:24:23
Speaker
It sounds like you're doing so much to sort of.
00:24:25
Speaker
Oh, thank you.
00:24:25
Speaker
Yeah, it's a great, great teamwork.
00:24:28
Speaker
Yes.
00:24:28
Speaker
Because it does take a lot of dedication and energy in getting it right.
00:24:35
Speaker
Oh, no, definitely.
00:24:36
Speaker
I can definitely imagine it does.
00:24:37
Speaker
There would be so many small things to consider.
Exciting Wine Releases and Pairings
00:24:40
Speaker
Going back to when you were talking about the vintage season, how did this year's vintage season go and are there any releases that we should be getting excited about?
00:24:50
Speaker
Yeah, this one is very exciting.
00:24:52
Speaker
It's only early days, but 2021, really, we had ideal ripening conditions.
00:24:59
Speaker
Up in the Clear Valley, it was a little dry, but
00:25:02
Speaker
But with that dryness, the drought didn't quite break for us, but we've got great flavours, great intensity, and some of the best colours I've seen for many, many years.
00:25:15
Speaker
Amazing.
00:25:16
Speaker
I think this might be up there with probably our best three or four vintages that I've ever seen the business make.
00:25:25
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:25:26
Speaker
And I'm getting very excited with just the smells in the wineries
00:25:31
Speaker
and in all the barrels and also some of the early colours, particularly in the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.
00:25:39
Speaker
So we're about to do our post-vintage tasting, and so I'm really looking forward to the wines and even our beautiful Clear Valley Rieslings.
00:25:51
Speaker
We're getting ready to...
00:25:53
Speaker
release them in the next couple of months because the aromatic lift and the characteristics look sensational at this stage.
00:26:05
Speaker
Oh, amazing.
00:26:06
Speaker
No, I can't wait.
00:26:06
Speaker
That sounds so exciting.
00:26:07
Speaker
Do you have any other exciting releases that are actually coming this year?
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah, we've just launched our new Masterstroke range.
00:26:18
Speaker
And one that I'm so excited about is our 2016 Masterstroke.
00:26:25
Speaker
Cabernet Shiraz blend.
00:26:27
Speaker
Yes.
00:26:28
Speaker
It's a classic Australian blend and we've really brought the best grapes from our oldest vines on the Taylor's Estate property and really blended what I consider to be Porto's number one variety in Cabernet with the Rome Valley's premium grape variety in
00:26:50
Speaker
in Shiraz and really, really fleshing it out to make a lovely, smooth, exceptional red blend.
00:26:58
Speaker
And everywhere I've showed it, everyone's agreed.
00:27:02
Speaker
They've really loved it.
00:27:04
Speaker
And it's one of those wines, even when you're tasting it, it's just got so much flavour.
00:27:10
Speaker
It's got so much elegance and very velvety that, yeah, it's very hard to even spit out a bit if you're tasting it.
00:27:18
Speaker
So it's a great one to have with a meal.
00:27:21
Speaker
And we've also in that range released a straight cabernet from Coonawarra for the first time because we've got great growers down there.
00:27:31
Speaker
Okay.
00:27:32
Speaker
So we've just purchased a new vineyard in the Rat and Bully area just near Coonawarra.
00:27:40
Speaker
So we're really excited by that fruit.
00:27:43
Speaker
And then we've got a lovely tree.
00:27:46
Speaker
McLaren Vale Shiraz also in the Master Stroke range.
00:27:50
Speaker
So they're the ones we've just released, but really exciting to see the positive reaction to those wines.
00:28:02
Speaker
No, definitely.
00:28:03
Speaker
I was lucky enough to come to the Taylor's Wine Dinner a couple of weeks ago.
00:28:08
Speaker
I'm trying to remember when it was.
00:28:09
Speaker
Was it a couple of weeks ago?
00:28:12
Speaker
Yes, no, and I loved every single wine that I tried.
00:28:14
Speaker
So, yes, I'm very excited for those ones.
00:28:18
Speaker
Oh, that's good.
00:28:19
Speaker
Well, thanks for, yeah, coming along to that.
00:28:21
Speaker
It was, yeah, a very positive experience to see everyone, you know, excited by the quality of the wines.
00:28:29
Speaker
What wines are you drinking right now?
00:28:32
Speaker
Well, right now, I actually love the, you know, the lighter.
00:28:40
Speaker
you know, Rieslings that are just coming through.
00:28:44
Speaker
So in the middle of the day, particularly on the weekend, they're just gorgeous and beautiful.
00:28:50
Speaker
But now that it's just warming up a little bit, all of a sudden at night time with, you know, a bit of nice red meat, I'm now switching back to some aged
00:29:03
Speaker
St Andrew's Cabernet Sauvignon.
00:29:06
Speaker
Yes.
00:29:07
Speaker
You know, I'm a bit lucky.
00:29:09
Speaker
I can select from the family cellar.
00:29:11
Speaker
So I've been enjoying some 2010s that are still drinking beautifully.
00:29:18
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:29:19
Speaker
And also some of the ones that are a little bit younger than that.
00:29:24
Speaker
Amazing.
00:29:24
Speaker
No, I'd love to be able to tap into a family cellar.
00:29:28
Speaker
That would be amazing.
00:29:29
Speaker
Yeah, always handy.
00:29:32
Speaker
We always find an excuse just to continually check these wines.
00:29:36
Speaker
Oh, no, definitely.
00:29:37
Speaker
No, before this podcast, I was actually, I had a lot of wines that I needed to put into my wine fridge.
00:29:42
Speaker
And I think I've got 140 bottles, which I'm sure is nowhere near as many as you have.
00:29:49
Speaker
No, but that's not a bad effort and, you know, you want to look after all those 140 and bring them out for special occasions.
00:29:56
Speaker
Yes.
00:29:57
Speaker
That's a good little working cellar, you know, and you keep rolling it through.
00:30:02
Speaker
Yeah, it does really pay just to have a bit of age on some of these wines.
00:30:07
Speaker
Do you have a favourite food and wine pairing?
00:30:09
Speaker
I really do.
00:30:10
Speaker
Look, when I'm lucky enough to be out, you know, in some nice restaurants, I have two things that I always go for.
00:30:18
Speaker
And I just love oysters.
00:30:20
Speaker
And I think the quality of Australian oysters are fantastic.
00:30:24
Speaker
So to have them with a Clear Valley Riesling, to me, you know, on a beautiful day, that's just a match made in heaven.
00:30:32
Speaker
Particularly I find if you've got a selection of different oysters, which I like, Riesling's always the best wine to have because it's got such lovely natural acidity that it really cleans the palate in between the different flavours of all the oysters.
00:30:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:49
Speaker
yeah then the other one that i'm a sucker for i when it's on the restaurant menu
00:30:55
Speaker
because we probably don't do enough of it at home, but I always jump for the duck.
00:31:02
Speaker
I'll always like the duck and it's a beautiful, you know, succulent bird to have.
00:31:10
Speaker
And, of course, the Pinot Noir is perfect with ducks.
00:31:14
Speaker
So they're probably my two favourite matches.
00:31:18
Speaker
But if I can't find a really good Pinot Noir or if they're getting a bit expensive, like I do love
00:31:25
Speaker
you know, great burgundy.
00:31:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:27
Speaker
And I do like, you know, really good Pinot from the Yarra Valley in which we make one.
00:31:34
Speaker
But if the Pinots are a little high, sometimes I'll even slip over and enjoy it with, you know, a nice Grenache that has that beautiful, you know, softness and richness.
00:31:46
Speaker
No, I'm a big fan of Grenache.
00:31:48
Speaker
I used to only sort of like lighter style reds, but I'm slowly getting into the heavier styles.
00:31:53
Speaker
And, yeah, Grenache is beautiful.
00:31:55
Speaker
I love it.
00:31:56
Speaker
Yeah, gorgeous.
00:31:58
Speaker
And we're spoiled in the Clear Valley because we've still got some of the oldest Grenache finds that we love.
00:32:06
Speaker
But we also have, you know, good grower friends that are in the Clarenvale and the Barossa Valley.
00:32:14
Speaker
So, you know, we love Grenache.
00:32:16
Speaker
experimenting with Grenache as an old variety that's making what I could call a fashionable comeback.
00:32:26
Speaker
When I was looking on your website, I saw that you were a founding member of Australia's first families of wine.
00:32:33
Speaker
What does this mean and how do wine brands get involved?
Founding Australia's First Families of Wine
00:32:36
Speaker
Yeah, it was a great initiative that we started off over 10 years ago
00:32:44
Speaker
It was at a time globally where a lot of the wine world was sort of saying, you know, nasty things about Australia, you know, that it's a big new world, it's all cheap and cheerful, it's all a bit industrial.
00:32:59
Speaker
What we did at the time, I remember writing a letter about some of these comments to my fellow like-minded family wineries saying that...
00:33:12
Speaker
You know what?
00:33:13
Speaker
We've got a lot of history.
00:33:14
Speaker
We've got this old continent, the oldest continent in the world with beautiful old soils.
00:33:21
Speaker
Because of Phylloxera, we've got some of the oldest vineyards in the world.
00:33:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:26
Speaker
And we've got all this lovely family heritage.
00:33:28
Speaker
So we really need to step up as a group and tell the positive story about Australian wine, about all our heritage,
00:33:37
Speaker
Yes.
00:33:37
Speaker
And history.
00:33:39
Speaker
So the like-minded wineries were like the Yalambas, the Henschke, the D'Aaronburg, Brown Brothers.
00:33:46
Speaker
You know, over in the west we've got Howard Park.
00:33:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:49
Speaker
And really all of a sudden we realised by getting together with all the, you know, the different regions we represent.
00:33:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:58
Speaker
Yet all the common, you know, threads of being multi-generational family businesses.
00:34:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:04
Speaker
So we worked out a bit of a, we didn't want us to be elitist at all, but we worked out a bit of a membership criteria.
00:34:13
Speaker
And we always said you needed to be about three generations of continuous winemaking.
00:34:20
Speaker
You needed to have quality wines that you could bring out an old, you know, from your cellars and have a vertical tasting of wines that you could demonstrate that.
00:34:31
Speaker
that are aging really well as 10- and 20-year-old wines.
00:34:36
Speaker
Yes.
00:34:36
Speaker
And we also said you had to really be into the best sustainable practices and be really supportive of our industry networks such as Wine Australia and Australian Grape and Wine.
00:34:53
Speaker
Yes.
00:34:54
Speaker
you know, really helping the industry, you know, go.
00:34:57
Speaker
So it was a bit of a like minds getting together and really having that long-term focus on quality Australian wine and really building the, you know, telling the attractive, rich heritage story of Australian wine, you know, within our country and taking that message and
00:35:21
Speaker
out to the global wine market.
00:35:23
Speaker
Because quite often when you think of winemaking traditions, you think that it's all European and that Australia just started recently.
00:35:33
Speaker
When you look at the details and amongst our group, we have over 1,400 years of winemaking heritage and
00:35:43
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:35:44
Speaker
Between the members.
00:35:45
Speaker
So we're really excited by that.
00:35:48
Speaker
And we also have a really great group of the next generation family members coming through from all the family wineries that are able to work in each other's wineries, go visit them.
00:36:02
Speaker
the other wineries and really develop their own networks and share the education.
00:36:07
Speaker
So it's worked exceptionally well as a great initiative for the Australian wine industry.
00:36:14
Speaker
Oh no, definitely.
00:36:15
Speaker
Cause I've been doing my Wessett levels and I'm about to start my level three in August and it is very European, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it because there isn't that much on Australian wine, but it is sort of held as a great certificate to have.
00:36:32
Speaker
But yeah, I was kind of thinking I need to also as well as that, then do a course on Australian wine as well, just to be able to learn more about that as well.
00:36:41
Speaker
Yeah, and we put on masterclasses.
00:36:44
Speaker
We enjoy each other's company.
00:36:46
Speaker
We travel not only to each other's wineries, but we travel globally and put on big events where we can tell the story of Australian wine in a really authentic manner by demonstrating, you know, the quality of the Australian wine regions and, you know, the quality of our wines.
00:37:08
Speaker
I guess this sort of leads
Current Wine Trends and Taylor's Offerings
00:37:10
Speaker
in.
00:37:10
Speaker
What do you think the wine industry is seeing more or less of in 2021?
00:37:15
Speaker
Yeah, very interesting.
00:37:17
Speaker
I'm seeing more lighter styles are very popular.
00:37:21
Speaker
I think we mentioned a few of them, like the Rieslings and the Pinot Noirs.
00:37:28
Speaker
The Rosé is certainly popular.
00:37:31
Speaker
The people are also chasing quality at the top end.
00:37:35
Speaker
They realise wine's not about, you know, volume so much.
00:37:40
Speaker
Everyone wants a healthier lifestyle.
00:37:42
Speaker
But they really, when they want to enjoy wine,
00:37:44
Speaker
a good wine, they're prepared to stretch themselves a bit more in finding quality at the top end.
00:37:53
Speaker
So we're noticing that trend.
00:37:56
Speaker
The Savalange from New Zealand, I'm just hearing at the moment that that's starting to taper off finally, which I think is a good thing from the fashion point of view.
00:38:06
Speaker
But I'm hearing some of the major customers are down on their Savalange sales by New
00:38:12
Speaker
you know, as much as 30% to 40%.
00:38:13
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:38:14
Speaker
So watch that style.
00:38:17
Speaker
And the other one is we're experimenting a bit with lesser alcohol wines.
00:38:23
Speaker
Oh, yes.
00:38:23
Speaker
So there's quite a trend too to lesser alcohol and also zero alcohol wines.
00:38:29
Speaker
So I think some of those trends are coming through and also exploring new products
00:38:38
Speaker
like we're making an excellent Tempranillo at the moment.
00:38:41
Speaker
Oh, yes.
00:38:41
Speaker
It's going really well.
00:38:44
Speaker
We mentioned Grenache.
00:38:46
Speaker
So I think, you know, people are looking for the story of wine, wines that are made with character and wines that really talk about the place where, you know, they've been nurtured and developed and made.
00:39:03
Speaker
So I've tried a couple of non-alcoholic wines.
00:39:06
Speaker
I had someone on from Plus and Minus Wines, which is a non-alcoholic brand.
00:39:12
Speaker
And I feel like, yeah, because I remember maybe four or five years ago, I did a detox and the non-alcoholic options, there was like nothing there.
00:39:21
Speaker
But now if I was to do it, there are so many non-alcoholic wines on the market.
00:39:26
Speaker
There's so many options coming out.
00:39:28
Speaker
And it'll be interesting to follow that trend because I think the technology's improved a lot.
00:39:33
Speaker
Yes.
00:39:34
Speaker
Some of the early low-alcohol wines tended to strip a lot of the flavours out of the wine.
00:39:40
Speaker
So now they're working out better filtration systems that are a bit more delicate on the fruit flavours of the wines.
00:39:50
Speaker
I'm excited to see all of the things that are going to be happening.
00:39:54
Speaker
On your website, you have a lot of different wine ranges.
00:39:58
Speaker
Can you tell me the main differences between them and do you have a favorite range?
00:40:02
Speaker
Yeah, look, we make wines, you know, for all different price points.
00:40:08
Speaker
Yes.
00:40:09
Speaker
Our promised land really is what we call the entry level.
00:40:13
Speaker
These are vibrant, fresh wines that are generally a bit lighter in style.
00:40:19
Speaker
But, you know, they're very food-friendly wines.
00:40:24
Speaker
Then, of course, we have what we call the estate range, which is really the traditional label that we started 50 years ago.
00:40:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:33
Speaker
The family are so proud of, you know, with its recognition around Australia.
00:40:40
Speaker
We're still one of the most popular...
00:40:42
Speaker
Cabernet Sauvignon and Shirazes under the state range.
00:40:47
Speaker
And, you know, it really does have a lot of flavour that is from the Clear Valley, but we also blend in other cool climate regions from South Australia with these wines.
00:41:02
Speaker
And then one that I was able to pioneer that I'm really proud of is our Jarrahman range.
00:41:09
Speaker
Jaramin is the Aboriginal word for seahorses.
00:41:13
Speaker
Okay.
00:41:14
Speaker
And what we do with this range is we find a variety and we blend it with the best we've got in Clear Valley with another region.
00:41:23
Speaker
So we make a Jaramin Cabernet Sauvignon from Clear Valley and Coonawarra, and we do a...
00:41:33
Speaker
Jarrahman Shiraz from Clear Valley and McLaren Vale.
00:41:37
Speaker
So it's bringing those two regions together where one plus one really adds to more than the parts of those two regions.
00:41:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:47
Speaker
Then, of course, what is probably my favourite is the St Andrews range because this really reflects the best varietals on our state vineyard.
00:41:59
Speaker
some of the oldest vines that we have.
00:42:02
Speaker
And it's basically a range of four of our finest varietals.
00:42:08
Speaker
So it's a Riesling, a Chardonnay, a Shiraz and a Cabernet Sauvignon.
00:42:15
Speaker
And we really do give it the best Rolls-Royce treatment.
00:42:21
Speaker
And it really, you know, is probably the one
00:42:25
Speaker
that I often take out to dinner parties and share with good friends.
00:42:30
Speaker
I've tried a couple of your wines.
00:42:32
Speaker
And so my boyfriend's, I think his favourite wine is your Merlot.
00:42:37
Speaker
Oh, yes, yeah.
00:42:38
Speaker
The Merlot is very soft.
00:42:40
Speaker
And we planted that in the 1990s.
00:42:42
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:42:44
Speaker
Yeah, and we've done a lot of experimentation with it.
00:42:48
Speaker
I remember in the early days when I first planted it,
00:42:51
Speaker
and it wasn't yielding too well.
00:42:53
Speaker
A lot of people referred to it as, oh, that's Mitch's Merlot, you know.
00:42:58
Speaker
It's a bit of an out-there experiment.
00:43:01
Speaker
But as we've got to learn more about how to make good quality Merlot in the Clear Valley, it's really become quite a popular wine within our range.
00:43:12
Speaker
Yes, that's definitely his favourite one.
Awards and Wine Recommendations
00:43:15
Speaker
You were awarded a five-star winery award by James Halliday for 2021.
00:43:21
Speaker
Congratulations.
00:43:22
Speaker
I think that was, it's your second or third year or have you just been always a five-star winery?
00:43:29
Speaker
Since his recent...
00:43:33
Speaker
publication we've always taken great pride in always getting a five-star award we i think we first got it when we were recognized as an up-and-coming you know um new winery yeah and a bit of a dark horse but um yeah james has always been a big fan of clear valley wines and been a great
00:43:54
Speaker
Great supporter of not only our winery, but also Australia's First Families Wine concept.
00:44:01
Speaker
So, yeah, we do take great pride in getting that high award because, as I say to the team, it's not about one win.
00:44:10
Speaker
It's always about the journey.
00:44:13
Speaker
of continuous improvement across the entire chain of making wine, from vineyard to putting it in the bottles and to presenting it to our customers.
00:44:25
Speaker
So it is a thing that you never get right but always something that you strive to always improve.
00:44:38
Speaker
What do you think goes into creating a five-star winery?
00:44:42
Speaker
Well, really, it all comes down to your passion, your purpose, the way you share that passion with your whole team, the way you get everyone realising.
00:44:54
Speaker
things we do do but also the things we don't do you know so we don't take the shortcuts and you never let those shortcuts creep into the business so we do develop partnerships not only within you know we've got great employees that are so passionate about what we do every day but also it's our partners like our growers
00:45:18
Speaker
our suppliers, even our Coopers.
00:45:20
Speaker
You know, I've got the Vacard family that have been making the best oak barrels in cognac for over 150 years.
00:45:28
Speaker
You know, we've got a really solid relationship with them.
00:45:32
Speaker
Over in Burgundy, we've got a great relationship with Louis Latour that have been making our barrels prior to the French Revolution.
00:45:43
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:45:44
Speaker
89.
00:45:44
Speaker
So we bring in some of the best barrels from Burgundy to make really exciting, you know, Chardonnays and lighter style reds.
00:45:54
Speaker
So, you know, it's those fanatical relationships that you have together with being spoiled in the Clear Valley of being one of the most popular
00:46:05
Speaker
beautiful regions for making top quality wine.
00:46:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:10
Speaker
You know, combining all of that together really does help you, you know, create that high level of recognition.
00:46:19
Speaker
And we actually have been very proud of the fact that we've sent our wines all around the world and we've managed to win major trophies and gold medals in some of the time.
00:46:32
Speaker
wine competitions in the world.
00:46:35
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:46:36
Speaker
I had a great honour with our visionary Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2014 vintage, when at the Concurse de Cabernets, at the International Awards in France,
00:46:51
Speaker
We were selected as the world's best Cabernet Sauvignon.
00:46:54
Speaker
So it really was a great thing to share with the team.
00:46:59
Speaker
I'm very proud of that vision that my grandfather originally had.
00:47:03
Speaker
But to take out a big award like that on the web page, it was a great thing for the Clare Valley, but also a great thing for the Australian wine industry.
00:47:14
Speaker
Yeah, no, definitely, because I feel like it would be amazing to be recognized overseas like that as well.
00:47:19
Speaker
So congratulations.
00:47:20
Speaker
That's amazing.
00:47:22
Speaker
Oh, thank you.
00:47:22
Speaker
So we're coming up to our last question.
00:47:24
Speaker
I just wanted to say thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule for joining me today.
00:47:31
Speaker
So the last question is probably the hardest one.
00:47:35
Speaker
And I'm happy for you to do two different price points because you did say that Taylor's ranges are different price points.
00:47:41
Speaker
But from Taylor's Wines, which would you take to a dinner party, a barbecue and give us a gift?
00:47:49
Speaker
Yeah, well, I would recommend, you know, I did say St Andrews is my favourite range.
00:47:55
Speaker
So if you're going to a good dinner party,
00:47:58
Speaker
Well, while it does cost a little bit extra, it's well worth taking a bottle because I'm sure your hosts and the guests will really appreciate it.
00:48:10
Speaker
And I think when people go to the travel to organise a dinner party, you really do want something that goes, you know, exceptionally well with the food.
00:48:21
Speaker
For a barbecue, I generally, I really love our Jarrahman range.
00:48:25
Speaker
So that's a lovely quality range.
00:48:28
Speaker
But you also have the blending of the two regions.
00:48:32
Speaker
So even with our Chardonnay, we blend Clare Valley Chardonnay with Margaret River.
00:48:38
Speaker
So you get the best of both worlds.
00:48:40
Speaker
So I find that wine and that range, you know, a really good one for barbecues.
00:48:46
Speaker
The other range that's also good, of course, is our estate range, very popular, widely available.
00:48:54
Speaker
And what's very handy at the barbecue, particularly if it's a warm day, is we've got temperature sensors on the back labels.
00:49:01
Speaker
Oh, yes.
00:49:02
Speaker
Of our...
00:49:05
Speaker
our wines so it will tell you if it's getting too hot around the barbecue or you're outside whether you can put your red wines in the fridge and conversely if you've just taken the estate wines out of the fridge these these temperature sensors will tell you whether you need to warm them up a bit too much and
00:49:29
Speaker
because they're probably a little bit too chilled from the fridge or straight from an ice bucket.
00:49:36
Speaker
Oh, wow, that's amazing.
00:49:38
Speaker
Yeah, and temperature is very important.
00:49:40
Speaker
There's a big difference between four degrees either way.
00:49:46
Speaker
So if you can hone in on the right temperature, it really does improve the quality sensory experience of tasting the wines.
00:49:57
Speaker
Oh, definitely.
00:49:58
Speaker
Just before you carry on to the last give as a gift, how does the temperature sensor work?
00:50:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's a great technology where they've got thermochromatic symbols in the label.
00:50:10
Speaker
Okay.
00:50:12
Speaker
They have different colours, so they react to temperature.
00:50:16
Speaker
And you will notice when they're really dark, that means they're too cold.
00:50:20
Speaker
And when they get very pale and lighter, like a light green or a light pink,
00:50:26
Speaker
that means they've got a bit too warm.
00:50:28
Speaker
So, yeah, it's a great technology we developed with our label makers.
00:50:34
Speaker
And it's a bit like, you know, if you can remember some of those mood T-shirts they used to use on people back in the 80s where they actually changed colour based on your body temperature.
00:50:49
Speaker
So it's using that thermochromatic technology.
00:50:54
Speaker
Oh, no, that's, that's amazing.
00:50:56
Speaker
That's incredible.
00:50:56
Speaker
I was like, wow, that sounds awesome.
00:50:59
Speaker
What would you give as a gift as well?
00:51:01
Speaker
Yeah, well, just as I was talking, I'd probably, if you want a special gift, I'd give a visionary.
00:51:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:08
Speaker
Particularly the 2014 was the price one, but they're consistently all very good and they come in beautiful little boxes.
00:51:16
Speaker
Oh, yes.
00:51:18
Speaker
And if you've got a gift that really is a bit of a stretch and maybe get a lot of people to join in with it, but our legacy wine is absolutely sensational.
00:51:31
Speaker
And it is in a lovely gift where there's a sculpture piece.
00:51:36
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:51:36
Speaker
It's got rhodium seahorses on the outside.
00:51:40
Speaker
Rhodium is actually one of the rarest metals in the world, more rare than gold.
00:51:47
Speaker
And while it is, for the wine lover, the ultimate gift,
00:51:53
Speaker
And only very limited.
00:51:55
Speaker
Each one is numbered.
00:51:57
Speaker
Each one has a microchip over it.
00:52:00
Speaker
And when you release that microchip, it means it can't be copied or refilled.
00:52:07
Speaker
But it also means you can talk to us about what number bottle it is.
00:52:13
Speaker
and about the experience of it.
00:52:15
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:52:15
Speaker
So if you wanted a gift for a wine lover for a special anniversary or a wedding, you know, or a milestone, you know, birthday like a 50th or a 60th, the legacy is really something special.
00:52:32
Speaker
How much is that one as well?
00:52:33
Speaker
That retards for about $1,000 a bottle.
00:52:34
Speaker
Okay, yeah.
00:52:38
Speaker
So it's right up there.
00:52:40
Speaker
We only make 1,000 bottles of it.
00:52:44
Speaker
Yes.
00:52:44
Speaker
And, you know, we bring it out.
00:52:46
Speaker
The first one we ever released was the 2014 for our 50th anniversary birthday.
00:52:55
Speaker
And it is a traditional Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and we've just got...
00:53:08
Speaker
a little bit of Malbec in it and really has come together as a beautiful wine that will age exceptionally well.
00:53:21
Speaker
I think we're about to sell out of the first vintage.
00:53:24
Speaker
Yes.
00:53:24
Speaker
But we'll be releasing the 2015 fairly soon.
00:53:29
Speaker
Ah, well, that sounds amazing.
00:53:31
Speaker
And I just wanted to say thank you so much for joining me today.
00:53:35
Speaker
It's been a pleasure chatting to you.
00:53:37
Speaker
I hope you have a lovely rest of your week and it's not too busy.
00:53:41
Speaker
I will.
00:53:41
Speaker
And thank you, Charisse.
00:53:43
Speaker
It's been a pleasure to have you at the Masterstroke launch.
00:53:47
Speaker
And always good to chat about my favorite passion.
00:53:52
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening.
00:53:54
Speaker
Please rate, review, subscribe and share with your friends.
00:53:58
Speaker
I'll see you next week for another closer look into the wine industry.
00:54:01
Speaker
Now go and grab that glass of wine.
00:54:03
Speaker
You deserve it.