Wine exports may have seen overall declines, but the average value of Australian wine exports continues to rise, according to the latest Wine Export Approval Report released by Wine Australia.
The average value of exports increased by one per cent to $2.59 per litre, due mainly to a three per cent increase in the average value of bottled wine to $4.58 per litre. China remains the largest destination for Australia’s premium wines above $7.50 per litre, according to Wine Australia.
This seems to reflect and vindicate the Australian wine industry’s efforts to create interest in Australian wines at the higher end of the market. Australian family-owned wine company Taylors Wines, for instance, recently launched The Visionary Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, in what it describes as its most ambitious wine and product design to date.
Managing director Mitchell Taylor says The Visionary is very close to early Taylors wines and was established in honour of the vision of his grandfather, Bill Taylor Sr, who planted 440 acres of cabernet sauvignon back in 1969 in the Clare Valley.
According to Taylors, this wine represents the utmost refinement of the cabernet sauvignon grape.
“Taylors has great pride in our achievements and this wine was created to show our affinity for cabernet sauvignon,” Taylor says.
“We wanted to do it properly so we gave the wine extended time to soak prior to fermentation to get the texture and flavours and then it went into very high quality French barrels that have aged this wine for 18 months.”
Each bottle of The Visionary sells for a recommended retail price of $150 and is individually hand-labelled, hand-numbered and packaged in a prestige gift box.
Taylors has also bottled a limited number of six-litre imperials, of which only 10 have been released for sale at $5000 each. Four of the 10 produced so far have been bought by wine buffs in China.
According to Taylor, The Visionary, which has been positioned in key export markets, has become a collector’s item.
“We are pioneering in Asian markets with this wine, and we’ve seen great interest in China,” he says. “They just love the quality.”
“We used state of the art packaging and every bottle was individually packaged, and included a booklet and a story about the wine. This is under screw cap as it is by far a superior seal. We used a bit of extra love and tender care in putting the magnums together.
“This is very much a hand-crafted wine and that’s how we approached the packaging: it doesn’t run down bottling line, it’s all packaged and labelled by hand.”
The Visionary Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 is available domestically via Nuance Duty Free stores and selected independent fine wine retailers, and is also be available via Taylors’ trading partners in China, Hong Kong, the UK and New Zealand.
