In launching Treasury Wine Estates’ bold California wine collection in Hong Kong, the Australian wine giant hints at pushing the envelop further by adding a white wine and Bordeaux Cabernet to its range, as it diversifies its global offerings.
The inaugural California Collection consists of four wines – Bin 600, Bin 704, Bin 149 and Quantum Bin 98 – made from grapes in Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles in California and Australia, with the two of the premium wines – Bin 149 and Quantum Bin 98 – blended with grapes sourced from South Australia. The two wines will also be labeled as “Wine of the World”.
All the wines except Bin 600 will be distributed exclusively in Hong Kong through the city’s biggest wine retailer, Watson’s Wine. The Bin 600, an entry level wine in the range, will be distributed through global travel retail.
While unveiling the collection, the wine group also hinted that the experiment with the bold California collection will not stop at four wines.
While speaking to media in Hong Kong virtually for the launch, Jamie Sach, Penfolds Global Ambassador, revealed that Treasury is also looking at adding a white wine to the collection and might experiment with a Bordeaux Cabernet in line with Penfolds’ multi-region, multi-blend winemaking philosophy.
The California project, according to Sach, started decades ahead. In 1998, Penfolds imported a heritage selection of vine cuttings from South Australia’s Kalimna and Magill Estate Vineyards and planted them in Camatta Hills vineyard and Paso Robles in California.
Between 2005 and 2008, the group experimented with wines in California but it was not until 2018 that Chief Winemaker Peter Gago, Senior Winemaker Stephanie Dutton and Winemaker Andrew Baldwin decided to commercially release the wines.
TWE also has wineries in the US including BV Vineyards, Beringer, Stag’s Leap and 19 Crimes.
Bin 600 is made from Cabernet and Shiraz grapes sourced in Napa, Sonoma and Paso Robles, a red wine that is similar in style to Bin 389, Sach likens.
Made solely from Cabernet in Napa Valley, Bin 704 is described as mirror or reverse image of TWE’s Australian Bin 407 stablemate.
Bin 149, labelled as “Wine of the World”, is made with 14.9% of Cabernet sourced from South Australia on top of Napa Cabernet.
Blended with 87% Cabernet and 13% Shiraz from both Napa and South Australia, Quantum Bin 98 in the range sits at the top of the pyramid.
The three wines available in Hong Kong will sell from HKD 738 up to HKD 5,980 at Watson’s.
The Penfolds California Collection 2021:
- 2018 Quantum Bin 98 Cabernet Sauvignon (RRP: HKD $5,980.00)
- 2018 Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon (RRP: HKD $1,380.00)
- 2018 Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon (RRP: HKD $738.00)
