Gavin Taylor, born in Paarl, South Africa, spent his early years in Wellington. "Wellington is grape country. I still remember seeing the tractors with loads of fruit going through town and the lingering smell of grape skins composting later in the season." At the age of 10, his family moved to Still Bay, a small coastal town approximately 330 km east of Cape Town.
Gavin earned his Bachelor of Science Agricultural degree (Viticulture and Oenology) at University of Stellenbosch in 1996. After leaving his post as a viticulture consultant in South Africa he started traveling the world working harvests." His trek took him throughout California, New Zealand and Chile.
"The first time I came to visit my wife girlfriend at that time I immediately fell in love with Chile's rugged beauty. This is probably the most diverse country in the world. From the dry Atacama desert in the north to Antarctica in the south, from the beautiful Andes in the east to the cold Pacific Ocean in the west, the country possesses every terroir imaginable."
"I have found that the principals of grape growing and winemaking stay more or less the same no matter where you are. One has only to adjust to the specific terroir where the grapes are grown. Working in different parts of the world with excellent grape growers and winemakers has taught me how important it is to be adaptable. Great wine happens when you understand your fruit and then apply principles, not recipes."
