Penfolds Going “Bigger And Better In America”

Penfolds will release four new wines from California on 4 March – all from the 2018 vintage. The new wines are:

Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz 2018 – $90.
Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 – $120.
Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley & South Australia 2018 – $220.
Quantum 2018 Napa Valley & South Australia 2018 – $950.

The wines are being released just a few months after the introduction of big tariffs on Australian wine imported into China, which has decimated Penfolds sales in that country.

Treasury Wine Estates announced today that from 2022 it will operate under three new internal divisions – Penfolds, Treasury Premium Brands and Treasury Americas.

TWE announced a 23 percent fall in earnings to $284 million and a 24 percent fall in net profit to $175 million.

As part of the project, barrels coopered by AP John in Tanunda were shipped to the United States for fermentation and maturation of the Californian wines.

Writing about Quantum 2018 in The Australian, Nick Ryan says, “This is the wine that will really ruffle feathers.

“The ambitiousness of the pricing, the merging of the very best of Napa Valley Cabernet with a small but significant amount of the A-grade South Australian Shiraz, the label that announces it as a ‘Wine of the Word’.

“The wine itself is worthy of the attention it will attract.

“It’s imposing and heroically framed, its aromatic lift immediately seductive, a torrif swirl of blackberries and violets. Its plushness and density are the initial palate impressions but with time its detailed etching and deep layering are revealed, and the intriguing hallmarks of the classic Grange style, lifted volatile acidity and hints of formic acid, rise from the wine like a cheekily raised middle finger.

“It’s fair to say it’s a wine unlike any other, but it’s also the strongest validation of the project there is.”

At $950 a bottle, Quantum will sell for the same price as a bottle of Penfolds Grange.

Penfolds announced several years ago that it was working on California wines.

Peter Gago told The Australian there was already strong demand globally for the allocations.

He described the winemaking process as “Californian sun above, Californian soil below – but everything in between is Penfolds.”

“On the timing of the project, he said, “We’re trying to do things bigger and better in America. How lucky are we?”