Professional partnerships in the wine industry are far less frequent than fashion or watch collaborations. But even if they were a dime a dozen, the oenological world would likely still be fervently excited about the just-released joint effort by Penfolds Grange and La Chapelle, which blends two of the world’s finest Syrahs—one grown in Australia, where the grape is called Shiraz, and the other in France—into a single bottle.
It helps that Penfolds chief winemaker Peter Gago and La Chapelle owner and winemaker Caroline Frey are longtime friends. They came up with the idea to blend their products over—what else?—a glass of wine after meeting at the Vinexpo trade fair in Bordeaux many years ago. And though both prestigious businesses produce coveted vintages, the resulting bottling is somehow far greater than the sum of its parts.
The finished collaboration bottle.
Courtesy of Penfolds Wines
Penfolds Grange was created in 1951 and is named for the original estate cottage Dr. Christopher Rawson Penfolds and his wife, Mary, had built in Adelaide, in 1844. Once completed, they planted cuttings of Syrah grapes transplanted from France. It is arguably the most coveted Australian wine among connoisseurs in the know. La Chapelle also takes its name from a specific structure: the chapel of St. Christopher, which sits atop a granite hill on the banks of the Rhône. It has been tempting collectors since the 1920s, and several of its vintages have scored the elusive 100-point grading from critics, placing it among the most acclaimed bottles in the world.
“The two wines, La Chapelle and Grange, the Syrah and Shiraz, have such a connection, such a long story,” Frey says. “Even if it seems a little crazy, the idea to blend them came quite naturally.”
Because they could legally not be mixed in France, the La Chapelle 2021 had to be air-freighted to Australia in temperature-controlled tanks before being combined with an equal amount of Grange. “They were initially oak-aged separately, then blended, and then went back to oak,” Gago explains. “That helps us with the harmony, not just of the flavors, but also the tannins.” In other words, Frey adds, “you don’t identify those two wines in the blend, but for me the interesting thing is that it shows me the powerful side of La Chapelle and the elegance of Grange.”
The Syrah fields that produce La Chapelle’s wines.
Courtesy of La Chapelle
The result, called Grange La Chapelle 2021, is violet in the glass and offers a bouquet of black cherry, pomegranate, and eucalyptus with a pleasant touch of forest floor. After an opening burst of cranberry, slightly grippy tannins and well-balanced acidity support flavors of purple plum, blackberry, milk chocolate, mint, and black pepper, with a soft hint of baking spices that lingers into the persistent finish.
You won’t find it on a store shelf anywhere: The tightly limited bottling is being sold directly to customers (at $2,500 apiece). Those who miss out will be pleased to learn that the 2022 and 2023 vintages are already bottled and resting in the Penfolds museum under Gago’s watchful eye.
Authors
-
Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen
