With a continuous history of winemaking dating back to 1852, the Clare Valley is one of Australia’s oldest wine producing regions. The town of Clare was founded by an early settler, Irishman Edmund Gleeson in 1840, who possibly suffering a bout of homesickness, named the valley after the rolling green hills of home, County Clare, Ireland.

 

The region prospered on the back of first copper mining, then a wheat and wine boom during the late 1800s. The historic town of Auburn, home to Taylors family winery and gateway to the winemaking region in the Clare, was one of the many towns that sprang up to service the Gulf Copper Trail - the route between Burra and the ships waiting at the head of Spencer Gulf. Men who drove the bullock teams, their drays loaded with copper ore or mining supplies, could be assured of a fine feed, a few cleansing ales and a quiet place to rest for the night. Bar the bullock-drays, little has changed...

 

The very first vines were first planted in 1852. The Jesuits, (Society of Jesus) migrated to Australia from Austria in 1848 seeking a life free from religious and political persecution. They settled at Sevenhill and established Sevenhill Cellars, the oldest existing winery in the Clare Valley. Initially the main purpose of the cellars was to provide sacramental wine for religious use, however winemaking soon broadened its remit, to produce table wines as well.