Penfolds launches 2022 Collection featuring inaugural French release : Moodie Davitt Report

Leading Treasury Wine Estates brand Penfolds has revealed details of its latest annual collection which features three country of origin portfolios – Australian, Californian and an inaugural, groundbreaking French release.

The 2022 Collection will be available from 4 August at Penfolds Cellar Doors (Magill Estate Winery and Barossa Valley Cellar Door) in Australia and selected fine wine stores globally, including in travel retail.

Taking centre stage: The Penfolds 2022 Collection, presented at a media tasting on 16 June in Bordeaux

Treasury Wine Estates brand representatives revealed details to selected media (including The Moodie Davitt Report) during a visit to Bordeaux in June, which featured a full tasting of the collection. Crucially, the new releases retain Penfolds’ house style, showcased across the three country of origin wine selections.

Penfolds made a big statement by revealing its 2022 Collection in the heart of French winemaking country (Photos: Leif Carlsson)

The brand owner noted that its house style “embraces the freedom to explore premium viticultural regions across Australia and the world, with a global approach to winemaking – unrestricted by region or vineyard. Penfolds ambition to make wine outside of Australia started decades ago, and over time, skills, interest, and experimentation has grown. A rich tradition of research, curiosity and wine trial continues to guide Penfolds winemaking endeavours in Australia, Champagne, Napa, Paso Robles California and now Bordeaux France.”

A video snapshot (above) of the Collection as presented in Bordeaux on 16 June

Penfolds II, a partnership with Dourthe

The new French release is led by a wine made in partnership with one of Bordeaux’s most respected winemaking houses, Dourthe Bordeaux. Led by Penfolds Chief Winemaker Peter Gago and Dourthe Chief Winemaker Frédéric Bonnaffous, the two houses collaborated to craft a wine that spans Northern and Southern hemispheres, blending grapes from Bordeaux (71%) and South Australia (29%).

French Connection: Penfolds II Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2019, left, and 2019 Penfolds FWT 585

The result delivers Penfolds II Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2019. The name Penfolds II represents two winemakers coming together, to express quality through a blend of traditional French winemaking techniques and Australian winemaking methods. Made from the 2019 vintage, the final wine was blended and bottled in South Australia by Penfolds winemakers.

Peter Gago said: “This is the start of our French winemaking journey. Our main objective? To remain true to the winemaking ethos of both wineries, to deliver the best blend possible, to ideally make Bordeaux and South Australia proud. This wine is not about bigness or boldness or assertion. It is blended to convey an ethereal lightness, subtlety on the palate, sensitively binding two hemispheres, Old World and New.”

Dourthe CEO Patrick Jestin said: “To push the boundaries and craft such a blend was an unexpected and utterly fascinating concept. Collaborating and cultivating firm friendships with the Penfolds winemaking team in blending such an exceptional wine was a dream come true. For us, this was ground-breaking, resulting in a totally original, innovative wine which far surpassed all our expectations, while remaining true to the culture and style of our respective countries and houses.”

The second wine to be released in August is the 2019 Penfolds FWT 585, a trial Bin wine made of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

Since 2018, many trials and blends were tasted throughout the classification process as part of a new chapter for Penfolds in France. The Trial wine was made at Cambon la Pelouse Winery with Penfolds Senior Winemaker Emma Wood playing a key role.

“Many great Penfolds wines were born from experimentation and trial; RWT 798 (Red Winemaking Trial) Barossa Valley Shiraz, Yattarna Bin 144 (144 winemaking trials) 1951 (experimental) Grange – and now FWT 585. The wines made in France pay respect to French terroir, yet one thing remains overly consistent…the Penfolds stamp. Just like our California wines…. we have the French sun above and soil beneath, but everything in between is Penfolds,” said Gago.

While Penfolds winemakers have been visiting France frequently for years, the current team members (led by Emma Wood) have been refining the Penfolds vision there for the last three harvests. Penfolds said that its winemakers have also benefited from the expertise, input and support from the team on the ground in Bordeaux across the winery and vineyards.

Penfolds Senior Winemaker Emma Wood reveals the philosophy behind the new French wines, alongside Dourthe Chief Winemaker Frédéric Bonnaffous. Below, the Penfolds self-guided tasting brought together media from around the world.

Speaking at the tasting, Emma Wood said: “I’m fortunate to be one of the Penfolds winemakers leading this project in France. I have worked with our many French colleagues, and it has been a very, very exciting project. Our intention is not to compete with the French winemaking industry. We respect them. We love French wines.

“However, what we wanted to do is make a Penfolds wines from France. This is about bringing house style and house philosophy to the terroir of France. Quality comes first, and that is what we never waver on. We are new here in France, and this is all about curiosity and experimentation. We are not established like we are in Australia, and even in California. However, we are starting to build those relationships and look for the best places to grow grapes that we think match the Penfolds style.

“None of the techniques are strange to winemakers in France. However the way that we are doing them, and the order we do them in, is where the difference comes.”

Recalling the past and looking to the future with Penfolds

We’re on location in Bordeaux, the heart of French wine country, with one of the great names in Australia wine. Australian wine, you say? In Bordeaux? Well yes. I had better explain.

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Frédéric Bonnaffous said: “We have a very traditional style of winemaking compared to Penfolds but the blend makes it very complementary. There are absolutely two styles in this wine. What is interesting also is that this style is not fixed, we are very free with it and ready along to change the blend, the variety.”

Wood added: “There is no formula, no recipe yet, so we are trying to find the best blend possible. The variation is the star. In some vintages we can imagine that the percentages of each part of the blend will change a lot.”

An exceptional edition of Penfolds Grange

The 2022 Australian release is led by the 68th consecutive release of Penfolds 2018 Grange – “a testament to the multi-regional blending philosophy that underpins Grange DNA, offering an abundance of complexity”.

The Penfolds Australian Collection, with Grange 2018 at the pinnacle

Gago said: “1978, ’98 and ’08 Granges … three favourites. The 2018 Grange? Just graduated, add to the list! This 2018 release purportedly answers to two IDs: ‘A well-dressed Grange … classy rock star. OR ‘a modern, classic Grange … sleek and finessed, with a punch.’ You choose.”

Following the inaugural release of Penfolds Californian wines in 2021, the next iteration will launch as part of the 2022 Collection – a continuation of an endeavour started over 20 years ago, when Penfolds winemakers first started exploring Californian soils. This year’s release includes the 2019 Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon and Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz.

The stunning white wine range from the 2022 Collection. Below, Grange 2018 alongside other highlight releases

Penfolds Managing Director Tom King said: “Penfolds is building a global ambition not just on paper but with our feet in vineyards across two hemispheres. We are focused on making Penfolds wines from the best winemaking regions globally.

“We started this journey with our partnership with Champagne (Thiénot), then brought to life a 20-year endeavour with the California wine release, and now, we proudly introduce a partnership with leading a Bordeaux winery and reveal our own 2019 Trial Bin wine in France.”

He added later: “This is a huge milestone in Penfolds’ 178-year history, a history defined by innovation and experimentation.”

Celebrating California: (Top) The 2019 Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon and Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz

This year’s Collection is celebrated with a series of events globally, titled ‘Venture Beyond by Penfolds’, in a disruptive, immersive and playful way. The activations have been executed over several days in key regions around the world with a mix of masterclasses, artist collaborations and culture-led performance pieces.

Making a statement in Bordeaux

Speaking to The Moodie Davitt Report (click on the Podcast for more), Peter Gago elaborated on the choice of Bordeaux for the launch event and tasting.

“This was a very deliberate statement to say ‘we’re here’. This is not tokenistic, this is a start and it’s a real thing. California was easier as we had been there since the 1980s, and that project is more advanced.

“Being here is different. There are different looking vineyards, different looking soils, different culture and different language. But the variety of Cabernet is the same as what we have. The variety of Merlot is the same as our Merlot. And there are similarities too which make it not such a stretch to create a house style.

“This is the start of a very exciting phase, not only with Dourthe but through our own endeavours and acquisitions, it gives us skin in the game.”

Peter Gago (right) welcomes guests from around the world to a dinner the night before the tasting to mark the launch

Asked whether the blend of French and Australian wine in particular would prove controversial, he said: “If you look at the trial, what we see in the French wines is that it’s immediately Bordeaux and it is provocative. But the first Grange was provocative and it’s part of the DNA. So we like the result. It’s not a gimmick, it’s a deliberate attempt to create something different.

“I’d be disappointed if there wasn’t a bit of controversy as it means no-one is paying that much attention. It’s always been part of what we do. Any change incurs a little bit of angst, a little bit of opinion. We visit other Champagne houses now [after the Thiénot x Penfolds range release in 2019 -Ed] and they embrace you, whereas years ago they wouldn’t have let you through the front gate.

“But the point is, if we can make this work everyone wins. We can grow the category, growers locally will win, producers win.

“We will still make a Magill Estate Shiraz and nothing will get near it. Grange is untouchable as a star. But we can do this too. We are having our cake and eating it and we want the icing as well.”

“Penfolds is around for 178 years and we are looking ahead to the next one and three-quarter centuries. In doing this our country of origin project is so important for us.”