Last week marked a ground-breaking new chapter in winemaking.
The Australian wine producer Penfolds officially released its annual collection that comprises, for the first time in its 178-year history, three countries of origin: Australia, the US and France.
The 2022 repertoire showcases the company's house style with its "Wine Of The World" global approach.
The highlight of the collection was Penfolds' inaugural French release led by a wine made in partnership with Dourthe, one of Bordeaux's most respected wine-making groups.
Penfolds II Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2019 is the fruitful result of the open-minded vision, creativity and year-long endeavour of Penfolds' chief winemaker Peter Gago and Dourthe's chief winemaker Frédéric Bonnaffous.
The red wine reflects the viticultural graces of the Northern and Southern hemispheres, blending grapes from Bordeaux (71%) and South Australia (29%).
Complementing traditional French winemaking techniques with Australian expertise, the wine is made from Bordeaux 2019 vintage, and blended and bottled in Adelaide, Australia.
"This collaboration is winemaking driven, purely for the wine, and not by some marketing directive," Peter Gago said.
"It's not just buying some wine and trying on the Penfolds label. It's being in the cellar and doing it our style while using raw material with great respect.
"Our main objective is to remain true to the winemaking ethos of both wineries. We try to work as gracefully together and respect each other as much as we can to deliver the best blend possible.
"There are lots of sensitivities at where the expectations are. So this wine is not about bigness or boldness or assertion, and really not just for Penfolds alone. It is to convey an ethereal palate pleasure that sensitively binds together the Old World and New World."
At the official tasting event for the collection in Bordeaux, Dourthe chief executive officer Patrick Jestin said that Penfold II far surpasses all his expectations, and "to push the boundaries and craft such an innovative blend was an unexpected and utterly fascinating concept".
"As a winemaker, my ultimate joy is what we saw today. The scepticism turned to smile. And that's a great reward," said Penfolds' Gago.
"We were hoping people would be amazed or curious. Some people would say, 'Wow this is different'. 'This doesn't taste like Penfolds'. 'This doesn't taste like Dourthe'. Or, 'It doesn't look French'.
"But that is the point. It is not supposed to look like French. It's supposed to be a good confusion."
Another French release in the collection is the 2019 Penfolds FWT 585, trial Bin wine made of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot.
Since 2018, many trials and blends, including RWT 798 (Red Winemaking Trial) Barossa Valley Shiraz, Yattarna Bin 144 (144 winemaking trials) and 1951 (experimental) Grange, were tasted throughout the classification process.
The trials, which signalled the beginning of Penfolds in France, were done at Cambon la Pelouse Winery with Penfolds' senior winemaker Emma Wood on the ground, in the cellars and in the vineyards.
Together with her French colleagues on the site, Wood has played a pivotal role and been refining Penfolds' character for the Bordeaux harvest.
"Many great Penfolds wines were born from experimentation and trial. All the wines made in France pay respect to the French terroir, yet one thing remains overly consistent: the Penfolds stamp," Gago pointed out.
"We have the French sun above and the French soil beneath, but everything in between is Penfolds."
Penfolds' ambition to make wine outside of Australia started decades ago.
Following the rich tradition of research, curiosity and wine trials, the company has extended its imaginative viticultural feat to Napa Valley and Paso Robles in California, USA.
It also launched, in 2019, a limited series Thienot X Penfolds Champagne, a one-of-a-kind collaboration between the Australian wine conglomerate and the family-owned Champagne house in Reims, France.
"People sometimes dabble about collaboration and it goes nowhere. We are very lucky to have found common-minded partners with as much passion," Gago said.
"In our wineries, you'd see the best of German engineering, the best of Italian bottling. We are not hand-cuffed by tradition. We are able to experiment to innovate."
Penfolds collection of benchmark wines was established in a spirit of innovation, evidenced by the secret bottling of Grange in 1951 and the unbroken line of vintages of what is now arguably Australia's most iconic red wine.
Its distinctive house style allows and embraces the freedom to explore premium viticultural regions across Australia and the world, with a worldly approach to winemaking unrestricted by region or vineyard.
Yet, its chief winemaker confirms that regardless of all the inspirations, label integrity is the ultimate importance of winemaking.
"For what goes in the bottle in the first place, it is what it is. But we have to make sure the label is in its place, to let people know exactly what they have," Gago said.
"As an ever-evolving winemaking company, Penfolds won't stop looking at the future.
"Just this first quarter of the century, we've been through massive challenges in so many different ways. There are supply issues and climate change, and the Covid hasn't gone away. But when hasn't there been a challenge?
"Even though Mother Nature is not our competitor -- but [the creator], agricultural risk now is immense.
"Who could have thought that in 2021 there would be fires in Adelaide Hills and even in the snow country of Tumbarumba. And guess what, in California, there were also wildfires. So we must adapt very quickly and have a multi-country winemaking attitude."
In terms of challenges in long-haul, cross-continent logistics, Gago explained: "We've been doing this for years now, pressing fruit from a vineyard and moving it to a winery thousands of kilometres away. The distance between our main winery at Magill Estate to Tasmania where we cultivate chardonnay fruit is enormous. It's further from France to London. If we can do that -- jumping the ocean -- within Australia, what we are doing now is not that difficult.
"Thanks to modern technology and transport, today we have temperature-control air freighting that helps us ship wine competently from one corner of the world to another.
"Local legislation and customs may also be a challenge for this kind of multi-country venture. But the important thing is we need to work with like-minded people.
"Our relationship with partners, which has stood the test of time, is lovely, natural and strong. And ideally, for the French collaboration, we want to make Bordeaux and South Australia proud. There's gonna be controversy, the Penfolds way. And it's going to be provocative, the Penfolds way. But I'm sure it's gonna be successful."
Penfolds 2022 Collection will be celebrated globally in a disruptive, immersive and playful way with a series of events titled "Venture Beyond By Penfolds". For more information, visit penfolds.com
