Distributor celebrates winemaker’s 50 years

WORLD renowned Australian winemakers Taylors were celebrated this week by local distributors Motibhai Group of Companies which marked the winery's 50th anniversary this year.

Taylors managing director Mitchell Taylor said the brand has had a longstanding relationship with Fiji and Motibhai for more than 20 years.

“Our connection to Fiji goes back a long time when we were young children and our grandfather would come to Fiji for holidays,” he said.

“We've had very important family occasions that we celebrated here and one year the whole Taylor clan came to an island resort and we sort of had this family reunion.

“So I have very fond memories of Fiji and for our wines to be sold here as well is just a bonus.”

He said their connection to the Motibhai’s was also special.

“With Motibhai, we've had a relationship for over 25 years. At first it was with Mahendra Patel who sent me a letter complementing us after he tasted one of our wines during an international flight and immediately I sent a letter back to him and since then we've had a relationship that goes beyond business.”

He explained that the 50th anniversary of the winery marked an important milestone for the Taylor family.

“This is a very exciting year for us and what we’ve done this year is we’ve created a special wine called The Legacy. It is a Bordeaux blend made of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

“It is really a tribute to my grandfather because it was his vision to establish Taylors wine, 50 years ago.

“When we established our vineyard, it was on the same day when another great thing happened in the world and that was when Neil Armstrong made that first big step on the moon.

“So we say that it was also one big step for my grandfather to plant the vineyard and it was a great leap for our family.”

He said the 50th anniversary of Taylors has been marked with international accolades.

“This year we won two major gold medals in London.

“They were the national wine and spirit competition and we believe at the moment we are ranked the Number 1 winery in the world out of 50,000 international wineries.

“The World Association of Wine Writers and Journalists have ranked us Number 1 so it is a great honour and pride for us.

“We have the Number 1 ranked wine which happens to be Taylors Saint Andrews Shiraz and it's a beautiful wine with a lot of texture and style.

“We've also won a lot of accolades for our cabernet sauvignon.”

Motibhai Group of Companies executive director Bhupendra Patel said they were proud to be associated with the top winemakers.

“Taylors is a very strong brand in our portfolio,” he said.

“This is the most awarded winery in the world and a couple of years ago they won the best Shiraz in the world and the best chardonnay in the world.

“We are very proud that Mitchell took some time from his hectic day to stop by in Fiji for an evening and show us his support.”