Penfolds to bring its ‘luxury & icon’ wines, including Grange, to La Place from January

Penfolds has announced that it will be bringing all of its iconic ‘Luxury & Icon’ wines to La Place de Bordeaux  from January in a surprising but incredibly logical  and impeccable timed move.  We knew – or at least some of us did – that there was going to be a big announcement of a new release on La Place de Bordeaux before the end of the calendar year. The tension has been palpable as the anticipation has been building, with the Chinese whispers surrounding the nature of the release becoming almost deafening. But even so, Penfolds’ announcement today comes as something of a surprise – even if its logic and timing is impeccable. It makes perfect sense and, with hindsight, it seems perfectly predictable. But it wasn’t predicted and that it wasn’t shows how well kept this delicious secret was. Indeed, there is something of a personal irony for me here too. For in October I concluded my review of Penfolds’ 2023 collection, with the following thought: “one wonders – somewhat mischievously, perhaps – whether, and if so when, Bin 169 might become one of a portfolio of Penfolds releases on La Place. Time will tell”. We did not have to wait for long. The details of the new release are, as ever, important. As a press release today makes clear, from January 2024, La Place de Bordeaux will become the official distributor partner for its ‘Luxury & Icon’ wines throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The