Leading Australian wine company Penfolds unveils a new Champagne Cuvée Brut NV that aims to seriously contest deeply-entrenched brand names with its pricing and quality.

Penfolds? Champagne?

Yes, you read that right. Penfolds does make champagne, which it has in partnership with Reims-based Champagne Thiénot since 2019.

That collaboration began on the more luxury end of the scale, starting with the single-vineyard Thiénot x Penfolds Avize Blanc de Blancs and Aÿ Blanc de Noirs along with a blended Chardonnay Pinot Noir Cuvée, all of which were vintage releases. They were followed by Thiénot x Penfolds Rosé Champagne NV, a more accessible non-vintage expression that dropped in 2021.

What’s particularly interesting about the Penfolds-Thiénot tie-up is that it blends the heritage and craftsmanship of the highly-regarded Champagne maison with Penfolds’ more progressive, less-doctrinaire approach to winemaking. The collaboration allows Penfolds to create champagne that is not only authentically connected to the beloved winemaking region, but also offer a look at champagne through a uniquely Australian lens.

Penfolds mounts a serious challenge to the champagne market with its Champagne Cuvée Brut NV

Like the newly-released Penfolds Champagne Cuvée Brut NV, which holds potential to seriously challenge the champagne market’s status quo, one that has been for decades dominated by familiar, entrenched names such as Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot, and Dom Pérignon.

How so? Penfolds itself is a globally renowned luxury wine label, possessing a stellar reputation largely established through its seminal Penfolds Grange. Unlike grower champagne, the Australian wine giant has the resources and reach to put the Penfolds Champagne Cuvée Brut NV everywhere that matters.

And it’s not like Penfolds isn’t familiar with sparkling wine. Penfolds did make sparkling wine in the early 1900s in New South Wales when it bought over Minchinbury, but sold it off in the late 1970s. In fact, Penfolds chief winemaker Peter Gago once shared with me during an interview in 2021 that he’s always been keen on champagne and, in fact, has assisted on some vintages himself.

Penfolds makes even more champagne.

The Penfolds Champagne Cuvée Brut NV itself is a classic blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay (45-35-20%) sourced from across the Champagne region. Fresh and lively, this champers bursts with floral notes of white flowers and citrus zest on the nose, while the palate offers delightful flavours akin to tarte au citron, fruit pastilles, almond nougat and panna cotta. It lacks the bracing minerality or toasty brioche notes some serious champagne enthusiasts crave, but it’s otherwise a well-integrated cuveé that’s likely to please a wide slate of palates.

But that’s probably because, unlike its earlier siblings, this NV release is positioned at the more accessible – read: volume-driven – end of the market where many of those big, well-known names play.

It would be most interesting to see how this plays out.

The Penfolds Champagne Cuvée Brut NV in collaboration with Champagne Thiénot is available from select fine wine retail stores, NTUC FairPrice, and Cold Storage outlets at a recommended retail price of S$99, and can also be found by the glass at select restaurants and bars such as Burnt Ends and Tenuta by Park90.


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