THE LATEST
25 Vintages for Jules TAYLOR WINES
Celebrating a quarter of a century
Celebrating a quarter of a century
As the sun rises over the vines on Godfrey Road, Marlborough, Jules Taylor is once again
striding up and down the rows, sampling the tasty grapes that will make up her twenty-fifth
vintage wines.
She gives a cheeky smile and says she should stop eating them – before popping another
grape into her mouth. It is this love of growing things that pointed Jules to the wine industry
in the first place, and that led her to step out of the cellar twenty-five years ago.
Her first JTW harvest was on a morning like this back in 2001, with a block of hand-picked
Pinot Gris that was pressed directly to barrel and wild fermented.
Little did Jules anticipate the success she would see over the years.
Unexpected success
She is characteristically coy about her impressive accomplishments in the local winemaking
scene, or the wealth of experience she has built up over the years. But she will admit it has
been quite a journey.
“A quarter of a century - wow, I can’t really believe it!” says Jules.
“We only made 400 cases that first vintage - of Pinot Gris and Riesling. I figured if they didn’t sell, we’d just have a great Christmas sharing them with the family! I never dreamed this would become my full-time gig and support two skinny teenagers through school and varsity!”
She goes on to say: “I don’t think I’ll be retiring any time soon! But I do think the fact that our little family business is still here, a quarter of a century later, having weathered many storms, well it’s something to celebrate. I have been lucky to have a great, small team around me who make my job easy.”
Industry changes
When she launched her brand there were 64 wine companies in Marlborough. Today there
are 140. The area planted under grapevines has exploded from 4,354ha to 30,444ha1, but
Jules has remained very particular about her chosen vineyard sites, drawing on family
friends and industry contacts alike to source her fruit.
There have been changes too in the makeup of the wine workforce, with far more women
and international hires today than when Jules started out. “It is great to see the mix of ages
and nationalities at industry events. There is much greater diversity now which can only be
a good thing. I love seeing all these young people coming into our region and through our
industry – it gives me such a buzz” says Jules.
sleepless nights
Jules has witnessed a rollercoaster of industry ups and downs, including multiple grape gluts and shortages, distributor changes and legal challenges – Jules gets quite animated discussing how other wine entities argued she couldn’t trademark her own name. Or remembering how: “After several years with JT Wines as my side-hustle, I finally handed in my notice on my “proper job” just weeks before the global financial crisis hit. I definitely had a few sleepless nights worrying whether I had made a huge mistake.”
Celebrating the wins
But for every challenge, there have been so many highlights. Jules still can’t quite talk about
being awarded NZ Winemaker of the Year in 2021 without blushing. And her wines have
won numerous accolades through the years.
“Winning the Sauvignon Blanc trophy at the 2007 Air New Zealand Wine Awards really had
a big impact on our business.” says Jules. “It gave us some serious third-party endorsement.
It set us up.” She proved the win wasn’t an accident a few years later by taking the trophy
home again in 2010.
The acclaim went global in 2013 at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC).
Jules was awarded the trophy for best Chardonnay and then scooped the prestigious
Producer of the Year award. She is typically humble talking about that success, seeing it as
an endorsement of the Marlborough region’s potential, rather than an affirmation of her own
skill.
The Real Reward
But Jules goes on to say that the trophies and critical acclaim are secondary. “You know what
I really love the most? Meeting the people at the end of the line who are enjoying our wines.
Seeing the joy these wines bring and meeting the characters who have chosen to drink them
- that’s pretty satisfying. It makes all the ups and downs worthwhile.”
She gives a modest smile and continues: “I hope we can continue to do it for the next
twenty-five years!"
