Trophy for Taylors 2007 Shiraz

Taylors, the family-owned winery from Clare Valley, South Australia, kicked off its 40th Anniversary year in style when the 2007 Estate Shiraz was awarded the Kemeny’s Perpetual Trophy for the ‘Best Value Dry Red Table Wine’ at the 2009 Sydney International Wine Show.

 The award winners were announced at a gala lunch on Saturday 28 February at Sydney’s Shangri-La Hotel with the Kemeny’s trophy jointly awarded alongside the 2007 Cat Amongst the Pigeons ‘Nine Lives’ Shiraz. Taylors’ CEO Mitchell Taylor said he was delighted with the result.
“This is a great start to this special year of celebration for our family! We were so proud of our success in 2008, with wines from every one of our ranges collecting awards - more than 100 in all, including trophies, gold medals and silver at international and domestic shows. This trophy will make a wonderful addition to the family trophy cabinet and we hope it will be an indication of another successful year to come for Taylors.”
Unlike traditional wine shows, the Sydney International Wine Show evaluates the quality of the wine when paired with food. Winning the Kemeny’s Trophy for the ‘Best Value Dry Red Table Wine’ for the 2007 Estate Shiraz further enhances the high quality and excellent value for money of Taylors’ wines while recognising how well it complements food, and how it enhances the dining experience.

Judging for the Sydney International Wine Challenge took place in October 2008, when 14 judges from six countries tasted some 2,000 wines. The judging took place in two phases – the first round of tasting to sort the wine into palate weight; and the second to taste the wine against a specially prepared food recipe.

The Taylors 2007 Shiraz was judged to be a light-bodied dry red and was tasted in the second round with a dish prepared by Sydney International Wine Challenge chef Jaqueline Mason, - pork belly cooked in milk served with puy lentils.

 “2007 was a challenging year due to drought and our Clare Valley estate experienced much lower fruit yields. The grapes, however, had wonderful concentrated fruit flavours and we were able to capture those in this wine,” Mitchell said.

“We also experimented with a change in oak treatment for this wine – moving away from 100% American to using some French oak as well (30 percent). The French oak adds subtle power to the texture of the palate and importantly, beautiful length of flavour - all of which are features that work well with food which is why I was so delighted that the wine had fared so well at this show.

“Our 2007 Estate Shiraz is a subtle, elegant wine with soft red berry fruit flavours. I often enjoy this wine over a family dinner of roast lamb or pork and cranberry sauce – a soft meat works best with this wine.” Taylors 2007 Shiraz: RRP $18.95 available at all good liquor merchants.

 After more than three decades in the Clare Valley, Taylors Wines remains proudly family-owned and run. The vision to build Australia’s most successful family owned wine company was set by Bill Taylor who, in 1969, purchased land with his brother John and father Bill Taylor senior by the Wakefield River in Auburn. This vision has been nurtured and expanded by the next generation, Mitchell, Justin and Clinton Taylor, who all have key roles in the organisation. Taylors challenges world standards through its progressive practices, most evident in the family’s commitment to bottling all wines from the 2004 vintage under screw cap, the first major Australian wine company to do so. Taylors ability to meld tradition and innovation results in regular recognition, both in Australia and on the highly competitive world stage.