Penfolds, the Australian flagship brand from Treasury Wine Estates, is now joining the emerging non-fungible token (NFT) trend by launching its first NFT.
Partnering with the luxury wine and spirits NFT platform BlockBar, the limited edition NFT is launching on November 24 at 9am EST. It is tied to a rare Penfolds Magill Cellar 3 barrel of wine made from vintage 2021. The wine itself is not available for public purchase, therefore making it the ultimate collector’s item.
A lobby will take place on BlockBar.com 30 minutes ahead of the launch, in which buyers must have one ETH (Ethereum) in their metamask wallet before entrance. The barrel NFT can be purchased at USD 130,000 via Ethereum, credit card, or wire transfer.
The barrel NFT will convert into 300 bottle NFT of 750ml at the time of bottling in October 2022. The token owner can also receive a personalized keepsake barrel head and engage in exclusive Penfolds experiences, including a private wine tasting in the Australian Magill Cellar 3, a vineyard tour and a virtual tasting experience.
The 2021 Magill Cellar 3 Old Vine Barossa Shiraz Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon from barrel is described to have dark red fruits and sweet spices by nose and aromas of layers of briar, cardamom and cedar.
The winemakers will re-taste the wine in 2023 upon release to provide updated tasting notes.
Penfolds Chief Marketing Officer, Kristy Keyte comments on the partnership, “We are proud to partner with BlockBar to release our Penfolds Magill Cellar 3 NFT. This is our first venture selling wines via NFT and cryptocurrency, allowing us to connect and build relationships with new collectors, who buy and trade luxury wine in a completely new and refreshing way.”
For this program, each bottle would be identified with a barrel and bottle number in the blockchain. As such, this NFT can serve as a digital receipt that verifies the buyer’s ownership and authenticity of the wine bottles. The partnership also ensures users are buying authentic wine directly from the brand owner.
The barrel NFT can be resold or transferred on the BlockBar platform but cannot be redeemed by the purchaser yet. Only when it converts into the bottle NFTs then can be redeemed for the physical bottle, after the wine’s release date in October 2023.
After redeeming the physical bottle, the digital NFT will be ‘burnt’ as one is exchanged for the other, which means one less digital NFT will exist.
