Penfolds really have disappeared up their own arse

[Ian S]

Bin 802 'Superblend'
Bin 98 'Quantum'
/ vomit emoji

What next?
Bin 498 'Synergies'
Bin 762 'Holistic'
Bin 39 'Touchpoint'
Bin 17 'Ecosystem'

I worry I'm giving their marketing team ideas

[ticklenow1]

I know they have massive vineyard sources, but you'd have to think all these special wines is diluting the Grange and 707 a bit.....

[Alan Foo]

Bin 802 'Superblend'
Bin 98 'Quantum'
/ vomit emoji

What next?
Bin 498 'Synergies'
Bin 762 'Holistic'
Bin 39 'Touchpoint'
Bin 17 'Ecosystem'

I worry I'm giving their marketing team ideas

Well, me think there are too many rubbish Bins around.

[Ian S]

[GraemeG]

I know they have massive vineyard sources, but you'd have to think all these special wines is diluting the Grange and 707 a bit.....

Not just those, but also Wynns, Seppelt, Lindemans, Wolf Blass, Saltram...
After all, Limestone Ridge is a vineyard in Coonawarra. Nowhere is it written that all its fruit has to go into a Lindemans bottle that almost no-one buys these days.
I looked at the Treasury website. Amazing to see all the US brands they acquired, and the absence of old Oz brands.
Some of the local brands they list - Jamieson's run, for instance - I don't think I've seen on a bottle for years.
And others - Tollana, Seaview, Queen Adelaide, Rouge Homme - I don't think they ever sold; they must just be sitting on a register of trademarks somewhere.

[Rocky]

Was at Magill Estate last week for a tasting which included the 802 superblend. It was unfiltered, full of sediment and ho hum. $850 too.

[mjs]

I could handle it back 25 years or so, when there were Special Bins such as 90A, 920, 80A, 96 Block 42, then even a new 60A and Block 42 in 2004 were ok, and then Bin169 later that decade. These weren't marketing wines, they were special wines intended to lift the bar and show what the best fruit can do. Maybe 169 is made in greater volumes. They still remain among my favourite wines.

The new blends and labels don't do it for me, not that I've had much tasting experience with them. I fear for the empire.

[mjs]

Don't get me started on the LIndemans Trio wines though! No wonder Brett Sharpe no longer makes those wines.

[phillisc]

Don't get me started on the LIndemans Trio wines though! No wonder Brett Sharpe no longer makes those wines.

Agree with all of the above...add KS and Mildara to the mix.
I could be really tempted in 2-3 bottles of Bin 169...but $300 a bottle is a dozen Wynn's BL??

Don't get me started on Lindies... Malcolm I agree, but the 2019 trio are brilliant wines and if I can procure for $40 or so will buy more. I paid $32-40... bargain really.
Yes Liz (forgotten her last name) now makes the wines.
Lucky there is great value in Bowen, Majella, Katnook, Zema, Parker, Redman and others.
Cheers Craig

[Gavin Trott]

>>Penfolds really have disappeared up their own arse>>

To be fair, it was a short trip!

[phillisc]

Boom Boom
Great to see you on the board Gavin. Might have the first 2013 Marius this weekend that I purchased through you from Auswine.

Cheers Craig

[Sean]

deleted

[phillisc]

Thanks Sean, a good read as always.
Ahh Miranda Kerr, whats not to love

Don't think Pennies need to look too far re marketing (aka wasting money and getting someone else to pay for it), with anywhere man Gago, who would fly to the moon with Elon and Richard to flog wine to Martians. Wasn't there a launch sometime back for the Chinese with a Bin 620 being offered, yet largely unprocurable here back in Australia?

Cheers Craig

[Sean]

deleted

[phillisc]

Ah yes, those chaps , they have been in touch before. The coconut water thingy makes me laugh.
Cheers Craig

[Ian S]

It is truly worse than I thought.

[phillisc]

It is truly worse than I thought.

True, and I can see a load similar uninformed types calling their cardiologist to cease their meds
Cheers Craig

[sjw_11]

I would feel sad for Penfolds except... well obviously.

To be fair "banana and coconut water" is probably the future. Even the FRENCH health ministry is running push ads on Facebook asking people why they say "good health" (sante) with Alcohol when alcohol isn't healthy... my god if even the French are giving up, the whole thing is doomed.

I predict Penfolds Bin GP California Coconut IV drip soon.

[mychurch]

I received an offer for a Pennies dinner during the week that features

Champagne Thiénot x Penfolds Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru 2013
Champagne Thiénot x Penfolds Brut Rosé Champagne
Penfolds, FWT (French Wine Trials) 585, Bordeaux, France 2019
Penfolds Quantum Bin 98 'Wine of the World' Cabernet Sauvignon
Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet - Shiraz, California, USA
Penfolds Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA
2018 Penfolds Grange
1989 Penfolds Grange

$950 pp

Sounds a lot, but isn’t that less than the price of a bottle of Opus 1 or a glass of 19 Rousseau Chambertin. Penfolds are not the first to do this (Chandon anyone ?) but they do seem to be the only ones making so many expensive wines in so many different regions - Mouton for example goes with Opus 1 and Almaviva. Volume wise that might match the number of cases of Penfolds top wines, but who knows.

[I Love Shiraz]

I haven't purchased a bottle of Penfolds for years. Way overpriced formula winemaking.

[phillisc]

I received an offer for a Pennies dinner during the week that features

Champagne Thiénot x Penfolds Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru 2013
Champagne Thiénot x Penfolds Brut Rosé Champagne
Penfolds, FWT (French Wine Trials) 585, Bordeaux, France 2019
Penfolds Quantum Bin 98 'Wine of the World' Cabernet Sauvignon
Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet - Shiraz, California, USA
Penfolds Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA
2018 Penfolds Grange
1989 Penfolds Grange

$950 pp

Sounds a lot, but isn’t that less than the price of a bottle of Opus 1 or a glass of 19 Rousseau Chambertin. Penfolds are not the first to do this (Chandon anyone ?) but they do seem to be the only ones making so many expensive wines in so many different regions - Mouton for example goes with Opus 1 and Almaviva. Volume wise that might match the number of cases of Penfolds top wines, but who knows.

MC, had to read your post a few times, missed the dinner bit and mistook pp as per pack. Would have been half interested. But a dinner with tiny pours. I remember 1989 Grange being released, generally a shit year for a number of regions/producers and the reception was very mixed.
So now there might be many many cases of this stuff at coming up to 35 years that they want to move??

Enjoy the dinner.
Cheers Craig

[mychurch]

It’s a lot of money Craig, but Gado is going to be there and I presume it will be reasonable pours. It’s out at Dunkeld and if you stay the night you can taste the whole Penfolds Range the next morning, again with Gado.

Thomas Hyland Shiraz tonight for me, 05 Vintage. $5 or so on a mixed lot. Rather gloopy and 2 levels below last nights Gepoetto Brut from Critten Estate, which was part of the same lot. Think undeserved better for a Friday night.

[phillisc]

Haha, just booked into the RM at Dunkeld...been on the bucket list for me. Going to have a couple of nice dinners and time to relax. Allan Meyers who owns the show and some 17 000 hectares to boot, with a net worth of close to 1 billion, could buy Pennies. I'm sure he's the winner here, 40 years as a QC puts him way ahead of any TWE boffin.

I am really intrigued in the association. Do report back. BTW, as much as I love to give Pennies a serve, because they deserve it...it's Gago not Gado.

Cheers Craig

[GraemeG]

Look - all the criticism above accepted, esp pricing - Penfolds can make a really nice wine. The whole multi-country thing is a bit weird, sure, but it's hard to think of too many people who'd do a better job with a batch of really great Australian fruit than Pennies.
I say this mainly on the basis of history - if you worked in, say, ten-year blocks, I can't think of any other red wine-makers whose wines I'd rather drink, at least up to around 2008 or so.
So, 1990-2000 - no-one will outshine Penfolds (in 2023).
Same goes right the way until about 1998-2008.
After that, I think it's a much more even playing field.
There's no question in my mind that the ambitions of being Australia's only "luxury brand", and the Chinese market, have diluted their focus (from a wine perspective).
The local market is surely seen now as a bit of an "icing on the cake"; trading on the legacy, cashing in on the brand name. The real money is to be made (hopefully) offshore. Risk/reward - straightforward stuff. Tricky for those of us based here, but that's the way international trade goes.
Content yourselves with the knowledge that today's $100 2019 Bin 389 is about a quarter the wine (quality-wise) the 1988 (or 90, 94, 96 98, 99) was back in the day. It's really only the numbers "389" that are the commonality, and that's just a marketing strategy developed over the last quarter-century.
Penfolds is hardly unique in trashing a brand-name in pursuit of market share/sales; there are examples even in the local wine business (do I hear Woodley's, for example?). Yeesh, look at Blaupunkt if you want a non-wine version. Sadly, it's just the way the world works.