Interesting to see Penfolds choosing to launch, or relaunch a wine at $1,000 a bottle. More, interesting, was that they chose China to launch the wine.
I happened to have just 1 bottle of the original 1966 Bin 620 sitting in a safe place.
My bottle of the Original Bin 620 – Yes, it was $8.95 back in the day.
A debate has been raging about this wine sinces it’s auspicious launch in Shanghai in November of 2011. The challenge is to look at such a release from all perspectives, which could probably be broken down to three groups: 1. Winemakers 2. Consumer & 3. Marketers.
THE DISCLAIMER: I have not tasted the 2008 Bin 620 and will not make any assertions regarding its quality.
The Winemaker
Having made vino for 13 vintages, I can justifiably say I can look at it from a Winemakers’ perspective. I can definitely say that I am a lover of Authetic, Genuine wine that is representative of both the place from which the grapes came and the time or vintage when they were grown. I spent my time as a winemaker chasing excellence. Making super premium to icon wine and looking to push the boundaries. Working hard in the vineyards, being solely a custodian for the yumminess expressed by the land in the form of grapes. Making wines of a non-interventionalist style, just giving them a nudge here and there as they developed into what I hoped would be a vinous pleasure shared at the table, with a plate and a conversation. Wines that are fresh, balanced, layered with complexity, texturally awesome, definitely not boring, wines that say DRINK ME and go beautifully with a lamb chop.
What this did require was incredible attention to detail, looking at everything we did to see if we could do it better, even in some miniscuale way. Some times ending up with only a single barrel or about 20 cases of a wine.
I think that is why, I felt, somewhat incredulous and then bored as, during the proceedings of the 1998 Victorian Cool Climate Winemaking and Viticulture Conference, I listened to a young Penfolds’ Winemaker describing the challenges of making the very first vintage of Yattarna, Penfolds’ so called White Grange. I recall comments around the challenges of barrel selection and attention to detail and how difficult it was. I think the presenter forgot to switch from Marketing Spin to Making Spin, for the audience of largely Grapegrowers and Winemakers. The clincher was the fact that a considerable portion of the wine was from a Great Western vineyard that had yielded 5T/acre. And, yep, back in ’98 they were asking $100 a bottle, when the rest of us were pushing to get $35 for some pretty Filthy Good Vino and putting in just us much effort with fruit from vines yielding more like 2.5T/acres or less. Yes, I have tasted the wine, and no it didn’t set my world on fire.
I hope that the Bin 620 is an Authentic wine, that hasn’t simply been trumped up as a marketing ploy. It’s comforting to read James Halliday’s reflection upon tasting the wine “When I say this is one of the greatest red wines Penfolds has made in the last 50 years …”. You can read the full article here http://www.winecompanion.com.au/sitecore/content/wine-companion/articles/news-articles/2011/november/penfolds-releases-bin-620-coonawarra-cabernet-shiraz-2008
How does this differ from Guigal releasing the super cuvee 2001 Ex-Voto Hermitage in 2005 to compliment it’s suite of Cote Rotie’s: La Ladone, La Mouline and La Turque? All retail for around $600 a bottle with the Guigal’s standard Hermitage retailing for about $150 a bottle. Hopefully it doesn’t, hopefully the hard yards have been done in both Guigal’s and Penfolds’ vineyards, with careful selection from old vines grown on established terroirs, yielding exceptional quality fruit and the resultant wine.
Guigal’s Super Cuvees from Cote Rotie: La Ladone, La Mouline and La Turque – That was a great day!
What does confuse me is how a few existing blocks have gone from being good one year to great the next, vintage variation accounted for, and have all of a sudden become capable of making a wine selling for $1,000 a bottle. With a production of 1,000 cases or 40 barrels from, I’m guessing, 16 tonnes of fruit and perhaps 8 acres of vineyard, they have, in the past, either been, knowingly, blending away some exceptional fruit, have only just got the vineyard to the quality required for the Bin 620 project, have after 60 years+ only just identified some unique parcels of high quality fruit, or have thrown an extravagent price tag on a wine that is simple not worth that much. Time will tell. I’d love to know more about the vineyards and how they are tended.
The Consumer … The Punter
I haven’t tasted the 2008 Bin 620, it may well be an exceptional wine, but, from a winemakers’ perspective, I know as a certainty, that there are a bounty of wines for less than a 10th of the price that will be right up there in quality and have had just as much blood sweat and tears poured into nurturing them from the vine into a bottle.
From a consumer perspective, I say this: First, if you can afford it, you can prize it from the cellars of collectors, where it’s probably gathering dust,and, more importantly, you like it, well then what the hey drink it … let me know when to drop around. Second, don’t get lost in the hype, there is so much AWESOME wine on the market and for the price of one bottle of Bin 620 you could get half a case of exceptional yummy vino from Australia and around the World or even a couple of bottles of extraordinary wine.
You’ve heard the old saying “I’ll try anything once” I prefer twice personally. Tastes change and wines definitely change over time. That’s why we cellar them. I bought a heap of wine earlier in my own wine journey, which I have since sold. My tastes have changed and I just didn’t enjoy drinking it. But seriously, look for things you’ve never tried before, be guided by one of the great wine merchants or sommeliers and have some fun. When I was a kid I hated prawns and oysters, I’m sure white truffles would have done my head in, now I can’t get enough. Even the dreaded brussel sprout is a favourite now, all be it caramelised in butter with lardons, roast chestnuts, salt pepper and little sour cream.
The Marketer
It was no accident that the 2008 Bin 620 was launched in Shanghai. Clearly the launch was showing a commitment to the Asian Market, particularly the new rich in China. The Chinese have been drinking increasing volumes of wine and are known as collectors and culturally love to show off .. or maintain face with broadly recognised luxury brands. The drink of choice used to be XO Cognac. I once served a customer, who bought 3 bottles of Remy Martin XO and 8L of Coke to go with it. He resufed my suggestion of buying VSOP at less than 1/3 the price is he was simply going to mix it. He would have lost face if he had done so. If Penfolds have their way the new drink of choice, and, best way to demonstrate status, will be Grange, underpinned by the 2008 Bin 620.
The promo video for Bin 620 seems to have been inspired by a Jerry Brukheimer movie, maybe, “The Rock”. The language is so over the top I thought maybe they were selling insurance or some sort of abdominal exerciser . The line at 1:45 “Already Hailed a Classic” beats the Champenois claiming every vintage as the vintage of the decade and every third to be vintage of the century. Surely, we need to see how the wine performs over at least a few years before such a bold claim can be made.
When Dr Bailley Carrodus, of Yarra Yering fame, released a 100% Merlot wine at $100 a bottle in the early ‘90’s, with a production of 240 bottles, people were forced to take note. At the time it cost as much as Grange. With a price tag of $1,000 for the Bin 620, people have again been force to take note, no matter what the quality of the wine.
From a purely business perspective, targeting the Chinese market makes sense. You get, numbers, money and volume. I just hope that the relationship between Maker & Consumer is genuine and that the wine proves itself worthy of the price tag. Just as much as the Chinese love to show off, demonstrate status and save face, they hate being ripped-off and have long memories. In a world where the punters BS Meters are getting more a more finely tuned, it would be a shame for the Australian Wine Industry to be tarnished, should this be the case. Particularly, at a time when there are so many Aussie wineries pushing to make wines that show real identity, with personalities to match, that are an expression of unique terroirs and represent great value for money.
I hope that, one day, Bin 620 is included in a blind tasting of the worlds, including Australia’s, most exceptional wines, THAT I AM THERE, and we can truly see if the Bin 620 hold its head high in such esteemed company.
Until I get an invite to such a tasting, I’ll be playing a game of “Would you rather”, starting with “Would you rather by a bottler of 2008 Bin 620 or a 6 pack of Clonakilla Shiraz Vigonier , maybe a 6 pack of Wendouree Shiraz Mataro, to be drunk with half a dozen mates and a big hunk of cow.”
Maybe the Tasting could Kick-Off with these little numbers from Aldo Conterno, Clonakilla,Guigal, Rousseau and Wendouree.
