Penfolds and La Chapelle reveal iconoclastic wine
Penfolds has revealed a Syrah-Shiraz hybrid that breaks all existing codes and conventions, marking the first time that flagship Grange has been blended with another winemaker’s product.
The joint venture was born out of the longstanding friendship between Caroline Frey, chief winemaker and vigneron of Domaine La Chapelle, and Peter Gago, chief winemaker of Penfolds Grange.
The new wine, Grange La Chapelle 2021, is a blend of Syrah/Shiraz sourced from these two iconic estates – 50% from the steep, sun-drenched slopes of the hill of Hermitage and 50% from select South Australia vineyards in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley.
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Caroline Frey explained: “As the project progressed, I saw the elegance in Grange and the strength in La Chapelle.”
Colin Hay, db Bordeaux correspondent, said there was something almost “wilfully iconoclastic” about the project, adding that the concept – if not perhaps the wine – “is likely to divide opinion”. He argued that, while the world “doesn’t necessarily need a proliferation of trans-hemispheric blends… [I am] very happy to know the level that a transhemispheric blend is capable of attaining”.
Annual releases are anticipated to follow the inaugural launch from 2021, depending on the vintage (2022 is already in bottle, and 2023 is in barrel). Production levels in 2021 were “tiny”, Hay noted, and the release is smaller still – as the properties are expected to hold back a certain amount of library stock. The wine is being distributed directly by a select group of 18 merchants, at an RRP of AU$3,500 per bottle in Australia, and €2,600 in France.
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