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These improvement techniques were dishonest and fraudulent, with producers attempting to pass off their blends as Bordeaux or Burgundy.
Penfolds, of course, does nothing of the sort. It’s transparent with its Wine of the World marketing and labeling. And with suggested retail prices of $ 149 a bottle for the Bin 149 and $ 700 for the Quantum Bin 98, he places a higher value on these wines. He even enlisted the NBA star Ben simmons, who plays for the Philadelphia 76ers but was born in Australia, as a famous sponsor.
In a sense, Penfolds sticks to its business philosophy. Although it produces wines from a single vineyard, like its Magill Estate shiraz, which conveys a sense of belonging, its flagship wine, Grange, is a blend of shiraz from several vineyards in different geographic areas. It also sells for around $ 700 a bottle. Yattarna, his best chardonnay, which sells for around $ 120, is a blend of four different Australian states.
The art of blending, of blending different grapes from different sites, has long been a crucial part of winemaking. Perhaps no place makes it a virtue like the great Champagne houses, which during the 20th century minimized the importance of the site and the terroir of the vineyard and instead celebrated the know-how of the cellar master, who would blend wines from different places and harvested in different vintages to create a seamless expression of house style.
But even Champagne has caught the virus of the terroir. Over the past 20 years, the growing interest in small producers who produce their own Champagne has galvanized close scrutiny of Champagne terroirs. Even many of the great houses that have focused on blending have added single vineyard and village wines to their portfolios.
Nonetheless, some of the most sought-after champagne brands, like Dom Prignon and Krug, persist in emphasizing the blending style.
Penfolds, as the great Champagne producers once did, talks more about its house style and cellaring methods than about agriculture and the land of the vineyard.
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