Mar 25, 2022
Women in Wine: Mary Taylor…. More
For International Women’s Month, we’re doing a series on Women in Wine on the women winemakers and personalities that are part of what makes what we do at Grappa Fine Wines & Spirits such a pleasure.
I’ll admit that I keep calling Mary Taylor “Mary Tyler.” Perhaps its because I always want more. Mary Taylor offers an tremendous introductions to all the nuisance and subtlety of French terroir at a daily drinking price.
The wine growers Taylor works with are organic and biodynamic though many of them don’t have the funds to get certified.
Eric Asimov had a nice write up on Mary Taylor last October, by which point we’d already discovered the full range of Mr. Taylor’s extraordinary capabilities and enjoyed knowing “Hmmm and Yums” agreeing with Asimov’s always delectable descriptions and wise words, particularly when he says of Taylor that “She offers a simple, elegant solution, one that does not pander, condescend or dumb down.”
According to the Mary Taylor website, when Mary first fell in love with wine in the early 1990’s, it was the European classics that truly spoke to her and stole her heart. As a young professional selling French and Italian wine, first in the New York wine auctions and then as a merchant, she quickly learned to appreciate wine in the “Old World” way— not as a luxury good reserved for special occasions, but a living agricultural product that belongs to everyday life.
This awakening eventually led her to move to the storied region of Burgundy. There, deep in the heart of rural French wine country, her experiences living and drinking among the area’s independent artisan growers cemented her understanding of wine as a form of liquid culture, reflecting the people and places where it has been lovingly crafted for generations.
The danger at this point is that Ms. Taylor might tire of her very wortwhile crusade and the brand ends up being sold to one of the conglomerates using her excellent reputation to sell whatever cheap plonk they can find.
I’ve a feeling, and high hopes, that this will not be the case and Ms. Taylor will either fold the lable or find someone interested in maintaining what will become, if the quality can be maintained, an incredible legacy.
We’re featuring the Beaujolais and the Bordeux at the moment so you can get to know Ms. Taylor for yourself.