Penfolds to let barrel buyers in on secrets of wine craft
Primary Industries
ONE of Australia’s most iconic wine brands has launched a barrel program to give collecters unprecedented access into its inner workings and winemaking craft.
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South Australian winery Penfolds – the makers of world-renowned red wine Penfolds Grange – launched the Magill Cellar 3 barrel program to a global audience this week at Vinexpo in Hong Kong.
The red wine in the 260-litre barrels is not available in anywhere else in the world.
Each vintage release will reflect the most optimum style and highest quality blend of Shiraz and/or Cabernet, as selected personally by Penfolds Chief Winemaker Peter Gago (pictured.
The release of barrels each vintage is expected to be small, allowing the ongoing program to preserve the uniqueness of finite and tiny blends.
The $198,000 AUD price includes flights and accommodation to Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, to visit Magill Estate, Penfolds’ spiritual home, where the barrels are kept.
Under the Magill Cellar 3 program, barrel owners have unmatched access to an otherwise concealed world of Penfolds and unprecedented access to behind-the-scenes winemaking and tastings. Revealing the journey of a rare Penfolds wine, the Magill Cellar 3 program offers intimate and exclusive experiences at key milestones of the wine’s journey at Magill Estate.
A personalised choice of bottle size is available together with a dedicated Global Concierge Service to enrich the interaction.
“This exquisite barrel release goes beyond the wine, offering unprecedented access to the inner workings of our winemaking craft and culture at Penfolds – unmatched, unparalleled – a first,” Gago said at the launch of the barrel program.
Provenance assured, the handmade French oak barrels made exclusively for this release will reside within the oldest and most intimate cellar at Magill Estate, Cellar 3. The nineteenth century cellar dates back to the founding days of the winery, established in 1844.
Nurtured under the guardianship of Gago and the senior Penfolds Winemaking Team, the barrels convey an altogether different journey that remains intrinsically Penfolds.
The inaugural 2015 Magill Cellar 3 barrel release was offered to private collectors and is now committed. Penfolds is taking expressions of interest for the 2016 Magill Cellar 3 Program, which will be on sale from July 1.
South Australia is consistently responsible for almost 50 per cent of Australia’s annual production.
More than 200 cellar doors are within an hour’s drive of the city centre of Adelaide.
The state is best known for full-bodied red wines such as shiraz and cabernet sauvignon and top quality white wines including riesling and chardonnay.
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