The Penfolds Collection 2019, released Thursday, 8th August, has been greeted with rave reviews by critics. Its release coincides with an upswing for Australian wines in the all-important Chinese market.
The Collection showcases recent vintages from Australian wine producer Penfolds, including the flagship Grange, Australia’s best-known fine wine.
“The new Grange 2015 is very, very good. Exceptional, in fact,” wrote Australian wine critic Nick Stock. “This is a wine that will be remembered in years to come as one of the great Grange releases. It will be gifted, swapped, cellared and tucked away for later.”
This year’s Collection marks the 175th anniversary of Penfolds, the winery founded at Magill in South Australia in 1844.
Penfolds, owned by Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), can expect to sell out of its wines, particularly to collectors in China. The Sydney Morning Herald quotes the Rabobank as saying that TWE has managed its route-to-market in China particularly well. “Australian wine continues to benefit from the free trade agreement with China and has emerged as the clear winner among imports,” Rabobank reportedly said.
US wine exports, on the other hand, have fallen sharply in 2019, “down almost 60 per cent in value”. China and the US have been engaged in a trade war since 2018, and China has slapped levies of more than 100% on wine from the USA. Not surprisingly, US wine exports to China have tumbled.
Over the same period, Australia’s share of the imported wine market has jumped, overtaking France.
The Grange 2015 has been released at A$900.00 ($610.00) a bottle—assuming anyone without an allocation can actually find it for sale.
