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China-made $50 Penfolds wine comes with its own emojis

Simon Evans
Simon EvansSenior reporter

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A new Chinese-made version of Penfolds has gone on sale in China for $50 per bottle as parent Treasury Wine Estates tries to lure a new generation by including a QR code on the back label with 24 animated emojis so people can use them in social media messages.

Penfolds managing director Tom King said the new wine, made with grapes sourced from the 2020 grape harvest in the Ningxia region in China, will in no way undermine the Penfolds brand and its luxury following, where flagship Penfolds Grange sells for $1000 per bottle.

The China-made wine is under the One by Penfolds brand, where the company is extending the core Penfolds brand and eyeing a younger generation. “Not at all. This is us putting our toe in the water,” he said.

The China version has a recommended retail price of 228 Chinese yuan, which equates to about $50 in Australian currency. It is another plank in the group’s strategy to try to replace a lucrative export market in Australian wine when the Chinese government imposed heavy tariffs of up to 175.6 per cent on many Australian wine producers which combined sold about $1.3 billion worth of wine a year to China.

The first wine under the One by Penfolds banner is a China-made red wine blend which will sell for about $50. It is made with grapes from the 2020 grape harvest in China. It will be followed in mid-2023 by wines from France and California selling for a similar price.  

The back label of One by Penfolds has a QR code for downloading which contains a set of 24 animated emojis with symbols including a lighthouse, a panda, a teapot and a skateboarder with subtle One by Penfolds branding. The company hopes people will use them on social media sites including the popular Chinese instant message services such as WeChat.

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The One by Penfolds range will be backed up in mid-2023 by three other wines from different countries, two from France and one from California. They will also sell for 228 Chinese yuan.

The packaging design uses illustrations by artist Ori Toor.

The wine was made predominantly by Penfolds winemaker Matt Woo in China and went on sale in China on Thursday. Mr King said he expected the online channel to be a big component in the sales drive, because of younger buyers.

“It brings wine to life in a pretty disruptive and playful way,” he said.

“Online will play a really important role”.

Penfolds is synonymous with high-quality red wine from South Australia, with the brand having a history dating back to 1844. Founders Christopher and Mary Penfold brought vine cuttings to the Adelaide foothills, with the wines originally intended as a medicinal aid for patients of Dr Penfold’s medical practice.

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Treasury Wines revealed in July 2018 it would begin making a range of Penfolds red wines using premium grapes from California’s Napa Valley, and the first of those appeared for sale last year. A range of Penfolds made in France is also on the market.

Penfolds is taking a long-term approach to making wine in China and has struck a partnership with the China Agricultural University to help develop winemaking expertise through an academic exchange program and a student fund.

Treasury Wines has pushed hard to divert high-end red wines from Australia which were previously exported to China to other markets, with much larger volumes of Penfolds and Wolf Blass going into Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

Treasury Wines chief executive Tim Ford said on August 18 the full re-allocation of that higher-end Penfolds to other Asian markets was on track to be reached next year, slightly ahead of the original timeframe the group had previously outlined of two to three years.

Simon Evans writes on business specialising in retail, manufacturing, beverages, mining and M&A. He is based in Adelaide. Connect with Simon on Twitter. Email Simon at simon.evans@afr.com

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