Taylors, Reserve Parcel Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

I’ve always had tremendous respect for Mitchell Taylor and the wine-making team at the family-owned Taylors Wines in South Australia’s Clare Valley, but with a St Andrews Reserve Cabernet pitched at around $55, I struggle to understand the reason for recently releasing a “Reserve Parcel” Cabernet at its $25 price point! Perhaps it’s just the 2013 vintage that makes it stand out, but it’s difficult (if not impossible) to reconcile the exceptional quality of the fruit with its mid-level price point – but nonetheless, the wine consumer is an obvious winner.

Crafted from fruit from the Taylors Family Auburn Estate, the 2013 Reserve Parcel is an impervious dark ruby red colour in the glass and asserts its physical presence from the moment your nose nears the glass. The stalky eucalyptus aromas quickly subside as the tightly bound flavours of blackberries and cherry lead the medium-bodied wine to its youthful, if not exuberant blueberry conclusion. I love the undercurrents of raisin toast and toffee apple that add yet another layer to its complexity, but it’s the richness of the fruit and its velvet touch in the mouth that make it a rival to its St Andrew’s Cabernet elder sibling which sells at more than twice the price, yet at only marginally, a better quality.

So, while the value proposition is difficult to comprehend from a commercial perspective, the 2013 Taylors Reserve Parcel Cabernet just has to be one of the value finds of the year!