Taylors Wines has reason to celebrate. The family-owned Clare Valley winery has won a multitude of local and international awards of late, further cementing the winery’s reputation for a fine drop. But gaining international recognition is no easy feat, and requires a shifting of perceptions that some export markets currently have of the Australian wine industry, including the US.
Food Magazine recently caught up with managing director and third generation Taylors’ family member, Mitchell Taylor to discuss how the winery has been able to get into the international spotlight, and how the brand plans to crack the US market.
“Firstly, make sure that you’ve got a high quality product that deserves to be exported,” says Taylor.
“Something that reflects regionality and tells a good, authentic story. Also be prepared to be in there for the long haul. It’s not a quick sell. You don’t enter the market and walk away, you’ve got to invest a lot of time in continually going back there to revisit the market, and build relationships.”
It’s this mode of thinking, together with an excellent product, that has led the winery to pick up awards at AWC International Wine Challenge in Vienna, the Michelangelo International Wine and Spirit awards, the China Wine and Spirit Awards, the Mundus Vini International Wine Awards, the New Zealand International Wine Show and the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition – all this year.
“We’re over the moon because not only have we won all these medals at a diverse number of international shows, but it also really reflects the consistency and the quality of what’s coming out of our family winery.”
Taylors can now be found everywhere from the shelves of Sweden and England to China and Thailand, but Taylor says that the US somewhat of a different beast.
Setting sights on the States
John Casella, managing director of Casella Family Brands – the company behind the Yellow Tail label – commented earlier in the year the that Australia has a “job of rebuilding its image” in the US. The Yellow Tail brand currently accounts for 50 percent of Australian Wine exported to the US, and due to its low price point of around US$7 per bottle, is often blamed for Australia’s cheap and cheerful image – criticism that Casella has always rejected.
Taylor agrees that an emphasis on commodity style wines has impacted negatively on the Australian industry’s image in the US, and in an attempt to change consumer perceptions, Taylors along with a number of other highly respected Australian wine brands, will be visiting the States to showcase what our nation has to offer.
“I’m the chairman of Australia’s First Families of Wine and we are going over as 12 of the top premium, multi-generation family wineries next May to the US, and we really do need to lift the image,” he says. “We want to make the US market aware that we don’t just make the best value wines in the world, we actually make some of the greatest wines in the world – we want to be compared to the great wines of France and the Napa Valley.
In addition to claiming some US shelf space, Taylor says that the restaurant and bar scene is also an avenue that needs to be actively targeted.
“I think that retail is a great showcase for your wines, and although restaurants and bars are quite an expensive channel to work because you need to invest in a lot of hours being in the trade, and the volumes are probably of a smaller nature, it’s a great way for the consumers to see your product. It allows consumers to taste the wine and showcase it against what wine is actually designed for which is to be consumed with food.
“I’m fairly bullish about the recovery of the US economy. The US is the largest wine consuming market in the world, and is certainly one that needs attention. Also when we talk about the US, we’ve got to also keep in mind that it is not really one country. It’s almost like looking at a conglomeration of about 50 different countries that are similar, but have different rules and regulations, so it’s really about making sure that you target the best states within that very large country.”
Exporting to the world
The States aside, Taylor says that the winery is also focusing on a number of other key export markets.
“Canada is another that I’m very positive on, and I can see that there’s a bit of recovery over in the UK market which is also a good thing, but again, the UK is somewhere that Australian wine needs to reposition itself in the long term. We need to talk more about our high quality wines in the UK, not so much the entry level, or the commodity style wines that tend to come from our heavily irrigated regions within Australia.”
Taylor adds that South East Asia is another market that has been treating the winery well of late, not to mention China despite the enforcement of new austerity measures by the Chinese government.
“With the austerity measures that have been put through with the new leadership, there has been a bit of a dip in the sales of top luxury wine, but there still is a good interest and a lot of education going on in China about quality wines. So while the market and the distribution systems are going through a bit of a lull and a readjustment, in the long term, the market still has great potential.
“There is wine coming into China from all over the world at the moment, so there is a bit of chaos in the market, but as people start to identify which brands are the ones to respect, and which brands are of quality and have an authentic story behind them – once they start to learn that, then we’ll be fairly positive about the market.”
