A Label with Purpose - The Story Behind Mary Taylor Wine's Mission
– demystifying european wines' sense of place
One of the wines we had in our home blind tasting last week was the Mary Taylor Anjou red, which I loved. I decided to inform myself further on her and her company, Mary Taylor Wine. Her story is the perfect follow-up to last week’s post which focused on terroir, as this is one of her key fascinations.
In fact, you could say the concept of ‘a sense of place’ is the raison d’être of her company.
Mary Taylor Wine is a wine import and sales company based in Connecticut. It has been operating since 2017 and brings wines into the US from France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. She also exports to 5 countries (June 2022 figure) including Canada and the UK.
But she is no ordinary importer. This is a story about creativity and uniqueness.
To set the stage, all her wines have a label like the image below. She currently has 52 wines labelled just like this listed on her website.
Let’s take a step back.
You have heard me talk about confusing European wine labels. Mary saw the same thing.
Yes, I find European labels difficult to decipher, but I don’t see this label above being any simpler! Where is the grape variety for one?!
She felt that putting the grape variety did not demystify the wine. You still don’t know what you are getting, since wines from any given grape variety will differ in taste depending on their origin. This brings us back to the concept of terroir from last week.
Her goal was to create a brand with a trusted reputation, recognized for quality small production wine from European sub-regions. As a reminder, sub-regions in Europe are governed by wine laws to ensure a certain level of consistency and quality. The very simple, very distinct label is also a key part of her brand.
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t it unusual for importer to have their label on the bottle.
It is. Labels must follow the label laws and typically labels (and brands) are those of the wine producers.
She lists the name of the producer on the label, but the larger label fonts belong to Mary Taylor Wine and the wine’s sub-region to emphasize the sense of place or “terroir”.
She saw an opportunity to provide wines to non-experts, and effectively serving as a guide to wine drinkers. Ultimately, simplifying wine buying while providing the opportunity to explore European wines.
What is her background anyway?
Mary sold French and Italian wines (and cheese) in the early 1990’s and fell in love with old world wines. She loved how, depending on the origin, they had a different story to tell.
After receiving a degree in English Literature from Boston College in 2000, she worked in various roles related to wine, getting exposure to various facets of the wine business. By 2005 she opened her own wine shop from scratch by gutting an old fish market. A few years later she created and operated a wine distribution company. In parallel with these two endeavors, she formed the Thoreau Wine Society, a wine e-mail newsletter with a 10,000-subscriber readership, writing about wines they offered and shipped in the USA.
In 2013 she trademarked the Mary Taylor Wine company in preparation to launch. That year she started working for an importer managing their French wine portfolio, all while working towards obtaining an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, which she completed in 2017.
It is that year that she launched the Mary Taylor Wine company and also started working at Merrill Lynch as a Financial Portfolio Advisor, which she continued at for about 2 years. From that point, the Mary Taylor Wine company became her main focus. Although in 2023, she enrolled in a master’s program in Policy Leadership at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy.
Wonder if she got bored only doing one thing – man, this lady makes me feel like a slouch? I cannot decide if all these experiences were part of a clear plan, or she just kept stumbling into things.
The Seven Fifty Daily wine publication interviewed her in 2022, where she commented that:
“I am a born entrepreneur,” explains Taylor, “but I didn’t have any real, practical knowledge of how to start and run a company. Everything has been a learning curve. I had to leave the wine business to really launch my company… during which I learned about financial management.”
Today’s featured wine is from the Anjou region in the Loire River Valley. This Anjou red, made by the Biotteau Family, is a blend of Cabernet Franc (80%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (20%).
Mary finds these types of producers at places like regional wine fairs - producers that make great wines but have not successfully entered the US market. The Mary Taylor Wine company is known as a serious importer who pays bills on time. In an industry where too frequently producers get paid late or not paid at all, this would be comforting for the producer.
Sounds like win-win … or should I say wine-wine!! AHHHH! Okay back to the wine!
Now I am the one to say oh-boy! You are cut off until the next post.
This Anjou Rouge is a bargain at its quality level (bordering on outstanding) and price!
Mary Taylor Anjou Rouge 2020 from Loire, France
Style: Old World Medium (plus) Body Red
Varieties: 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon
This intense, intriguing wine has flavors of sweet red cherry, ripe strawberries, black plum, cinnamon, vanilla, and cocoa. Alluring and precise dry tobacco and cigar box flavors add complexity as do leather, earth, and forest floor notes. The tannins are moderately high, ripe chalky tannins, and the finish is very persistent.
Best pairings: Herb-crusted pork loin (maybe with Herbe de Provence), Grilled Pork Burgers with Fennel, Grilled Stuffed Bell Peppers, Semi-hard cheeses: Gruyère, Smoked Gouda, or Emmental, and Smoked Nuts.
Serving Temperature: 18 degrees Celsius
Price: ~$27 Cdn (incl. Shades of Grape 15% discount & 5% gst)
Serving Tips: Enjoy!
I have compiled all my wine recommendations in one place. I will do my best to keep this up to date. I also include the link(s) to the article in which the wine was featured.
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SOURCES:
Mary R. H. Taylor Linkedin Page - Mary Taylor Wine. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryrhtaylor (Accessed: 13 May 2024).
Leon, M. de (2021) Natural wine, but make it normcore, PUNCH. Available at: https://punchdrink.com/articles/natural-wine-but-make-it-normcore-mary-taylor/ (Accessed: 12 May 2024).
Mary Taylor Wine (no date) MARY TAYLOR WINE. Available at: https://mt.wine/ (Accessed: 12 May 2024).
Walker, K. (2023) The place is the thing with Mary Taylor Wines , K&L Wines On the Trail Blog. (Accessed: 12 May 2024).
Miller, Caitlin A. (2022) How Mary Taylor built a business on good European wine-and better labels, SevenFifty Daily. Available at: https://daily.sevenfifty.com/how-mary-taylor-built-a-business-on-good-european-wine-and-better-labels/ (Accessed: 12 May 2024).
Great article. Impressive lady. Her company sounds a little like Kermit Lynch.
I’ll have to try this Anjou Rouge, sounds like it has some ageability potential.
Kevin