Wakefield Estate

Wakefield Estate - the way to international viticulture

Wakefield Estate is the Taylor family winery in Australia. The history goes back 40 years, when Bill Sr. and his son Bill Taylor founded the company. Since 2000, Bill's son Mitchell has been running the day-to-day business, Bill himself is still involved in the business from time to time. Besides Mitchell, his brothers Justin and Clinton are still part of Wakefield Estate, Justin takes care of the international relations, while Clinton looks after the development of the business in terms of sustainability, new projects and marketing.

Wakefield Estate was one of Australia's first wine producers to specifically embrace classic French-style winemaking, whereas the mass of Australian winemakers were mainly producing fortified wine. Bill's dream was to produce wines that could rival the Bordeaux classics and saw it as his personal mission to achieve this.

The Taylors are also founding members of the AFFW, an Australian viticultural association of family wineries dedicated to mutually reinforcing and representing quality Australian wine in the world market.

Wakefield Estate in the Clare Valley

Wakefield Estate is located in the Clare Valley, about 100 km north of Adelaide. The picturesque region looks back on a wine-growing history of more than 150 years and is thus one of the oldest wine-growing areas in Australia. It is also described as one of Australia's most beautiful regions with rolling hills and sweeping gorges. The unique combination of geography, geology and climate results in a terroir that is perfect for producing world class wines.

The climate is comparatively cool due to the region's higher elevation, allowing the grapes to ripen somewhat more slowly and evenly. Rainfall occurs mainly in winter, and irrigation is necessary in summer. Due to the dryness, however, the risk of fungal infestation of the vines decreases. There is a variety of soil types throughout the Clare Valley, so many different grape varieties can be grown.

The wines of Wakefield Estate

Wakefield Estate 's portfolio is quite broad. The house offers a whole 9 wine lines:

• The Legacy: the top wines in the tradition of the house, which carry 50 years of winemaking experience
• The Pioneer: the best Shiraz of the house, the name is a reference to Bill Taylor's pioneering work in Australian viticulture
• The Visionary: the best Cabernet Sauvignon, the name in reference to Bill Taylor Sr.
• St. Andrews: Terroir wines of the house, the name comes from one of the first wineries in Australia
• Jaraman: wines from different regions of Australia, the grapes are bought from other estates
• Wakefield Estate: the standard line of the house
• Promised Land: Wines from a certain part of the estate, where small seahorse fossils were found, these can be found on the label today
• Limited Release: unique bottlings of very special wines for the trade partners of the house