Grape to Glass

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Grant Taylor, owner and founder of Valli Vineyards never really had a chance to put down roots growing up. His father worked for the government, so the family was constantly moving every one or two years.

“W hile one part of me loved (and still does) the joy of discovering new places and the pleasure of making new friends, another part thrived on the permanence and stability of my grandparents’ farm in the Catlins,” said Taylor. After studying agriculture at university in Lincoln, Taylor decided to go travelling for a couple years before ending up in U.C. Davis in California to catch up with some friends from Lincoln. Most weekends the group found themselves exploring tasting rooms across Napa and Sonoma Valley. “My biggest revelation was that there looked like a very exciting life to be had making wine and growing grapes,” said Taylor. “So, in 1980 I applied for a position as assistant winemaker at a brand-new Napa Valley winery, Pine Ridge.” While that was the start of winemaking for a living, it wasn’t the start of Taylor’s interest

in wine and winemaking.

“The interest, or rather, curiosity goes back as far as my memory does,” he explained.

“My father always had a modest wine cellar, that like me, followed him up and down the country with every move. Nothing was ever as well wrapped as those bottles; nothing was cared for as much.”

Taylor remembers his mother in tears after crystal wedding gifts arrived in pieces after a move, but the wine bottles always arrived complete.

The journey of making wine began earlier on for Taylor. Drinks like Coke or Fanta were not in the Taylor household, but they still needed something cold, refreshing and fizzy to drink.

“So, I was given the task to make ginger beer for the family.”

The book that had the ginger beer recipe also had a recipe for cider. The Taylor’s also had an apple tree in the backyard at the time, so Taylor figured the next logical step was to make cider.

“All was going well until I took some to high school thinking this was something that must be shared with my friends.

“It didn’t go so well,” he laughed.

“I find a fair bit of irony in the fact that I now earn a living doing something that all those years ago led to the forfeiture of my pocket money for a year.”

Taylor now owns Valli, which is in the ‘industrial’ part of Cromwell, Otago. Being in the industrial area has its perks, as the winery has electricians, engineers, and mechanics as immediate neighbours, so when things break down, they are fixed immediately. The location also works well for transport due to its central location for the vineyards at Gibbston, Waitaki, Bannockburn and Bendigo.

“The philosophy dictating decisions in the winery and vineyards is identical – in the vineyard we do everything we can to get the best grapes, and in the winery, we do everything we can to make the best wine.”

“The very last thing we look at is what it costs,” said Taylor. “You can never get pure quality if your starting point is to do something as cheaply as possible.”

Taylor said his favourite part of the job is harvest days.

“Firstly, there is the satisfaction of knowing that what is being picked and sent to the winery is safely tucked away from the vagaries of nature.

“Secondly it is the social side. The conversations had while picking opposite someone, finding out more about an old friend or making a new one.”

Turning what he loves doing into a lifestyle that has sustained him for over 40 years is what Taylor considers his biggest achievement in his wine career.

Since his journey began in 1980, Taylor had three prominent mentors to help him. The first was Jeff Booth, who hired Taylor in 1980.

“The criteria I learned from Jeff that has served me well was hire the person for who they are. Qualifications can be gained, skills can be learnt, but it’s a lot harder to change the person.”

Another mentor was Gary Andrus, owner of Pine Ridge, who told Taylor “to stay in business, you need to work as hard at selling your product as making it.”

Finally, through Michel Perret, owner of Domaine Napa, Taylor learnt the value of no-compromise farming and the relationship between grape quality and wine quality.

Taylor left Pine Ridge in 1986 to become a winemaker at Domaine Napa until returning home in 1993 to become Gibbston Valleys winemaker. In 2006, Taylor left Gibbston Valley to focus solely on Valli.

“My only advise to anyone in the wine industry, or any other industry for that matter, is if you don’t love it get out and find something you do love.”