Another crack in the terroir fantasy. The release of an Australian Shiraz and a French syrah blend will show again that “the sense of place” has nothing to do with quality.
Penfolds has long proved that Australian regional blends make great wines. Now it has joined with Jaboulet’s Domaine de la Chapelle to show that inter-country blends can work as well.
The 2021 Grange La Chapelle is an equal blend of the two wines.
Nick Ryan has described in The Australian how this wine of two continents came about.
He quotes Penfolds’ chief winemaker Peter Gago saying that this dream combination started to form when he met La Chapelle’s Caroline Frey at a Vinexpo trade fair some years ago.
Together the companies have exposed another crack in the terroir fantasy.
See also Sacre Bleu! With global blends there’s no terroir!
Sans Precedent – the Penfolds press release on the new La Chapelle-Grange
