Penfolds partners National Geographic in video collaboration

Australian wine giant Penfolds is collaborating with National Geographic on a series of videos recounting the stories behind aged wines that have been brought into its famous re-corking clinics.

Entitled ‘A Story in Every Bottle,’ the videos – part of what Penfolds has said will be a “long-term collaboration” – tell the stories behind wines aged 15 years or older brought into Penfolds’ re-corking clinics across the world.

Visiting the complimentary clinics in Adelaide, Sydney, London, New York, Vancouver, Hong Kong and Singapore, the 12 stories include an Olympian and his wife’s special wedding gift, two daughters celebrating what would be their father’s 90th birthday with a bottle of 1978 Penfolds Grange, and a bottle of 1966 Grange given to a man on his 21st birthday.

The videos are narrated by chief winemaker Peter Gago who carefully removes the cork, checks that the level of the wine is ‘certifiable’ and then samples the wine to check for faults.

Penfolds has been offering its re-corking services since 1991 and estimates that within that time, it has checked over 130,000 bottles across four continents. The clinics are inspired by the creator of Grange, Max Schubert, who would re-cork older vintages for his friends.

At the clinics, Penfolds’ winemaking team assess the quality of the wine, topping up and fitting new capsules where necessary. Using an ullage measure (and through taste and visual examination), the team are able to certify (or not) the wines. The ullage measure is a guide that determines the need for re-corking and the level of liquid loss. Different levels of wine are given different colours, with red (-8.5cm-10.cm) indicating a possible fault and that the wine is no longer certifiable. A digital version of this chart can be viewed here. 

Gago commented: “From the vine to the bottle, the journey of grape into wine is a story in its own right. At a Re-corking Clinic new stories emerge from the wines’ owners and after 25 years, the notion that every bottle has a story continues to reign true”.

“As winemakers, it is so meaningful and rewarding to meet collectors and share their personal story of their wine’s journey. Professionally it is gratifying to witness the ongoing quality of rare treasures that span so many decades, each one adding to the unfinished story that is Penfolds”.

Julia Scales, Fox Networks Group Director of Advertising and Partnerships, added:  “National Geographic is a brand that resonates with consumers worldwide, it empowers and enriches the explorer and storyteller in all of us. We are thrilled to collaborate with Penfolds on this branded content opportunity and share authentic and premium stories showcasing the deep history and passion for winemaking from Australia and around the globe”.

The videos will take the form of two stories from each of the clinics visited, with the owner(s) sharing the story of how they came to acquire the bottle. The videos will be released from today (18/09/2017) onwards and are available to view here.