Epistles in Effervescence: The Rhapsodic Convergence of Penfolds and Thiénot.

There are collaborations that announce themselves with banners and press releases, and then there are collaborations that whisper across time, soil, and philosophy. The Penfolds x Champagne Thiénot partnership belongs to the latter - less a handshake than a letter, less a brand exercise than a meditation composed in chalk, limestone, and patient effervescence. It is the sort of dialogue that invites you to linger, to lean closer, and to listen.

Penfolds’ journey into Champagne reads like a love story reborn. Though their flirtation with sparkling wine began in Australia in the early 1900s, it was only in 2019 that the romance was reignited with purpose. There was an immediate, almost visceral connection - an affection that felt instant, electric, like the first note of a familiar sonata remembered after decades.

Peter Gago, Penfolds’ chief winemaker, has reflected on the collaboration with Nicholas Uriel as a rare chance to “dance with tradition while still holding our own rhythm.” The wines themselves bear this out: precise, respectful, yet subtly audacious, each a manifestation of dialogue rather than imitation.

The NV Brut Rosé is perhaps the most sociable chapter of this conversation. Its colour is luminous, pale salmon like early morning light filtering through a French courtyard, understated yet arresting. On the nose, it is immediately compelling: mandarin peel and fresh raspberry open the conversation, while Turkish delight dusted with pistachio, a faint rose petal perfume, and subtle redcurrant echo with a sense of history and place. Each inhalation reveals new nuances, like letters between friends whose words accrue warmth and meaning over time.

Not all bubbles gossip - some just tell secrets in salmon and straw.

On the palate, the wine speaks with an inviting eloquence. The mousse is gentle, playful, never demanding, the acidity balanced with a calm authority. Strawberry and redcurrant thread through the mid-palate with a melodic precision, while pepper and faint Turkish delight lend a delicate, almost exotic tension.

There is a sense of ascent here, grenadine-like fruits rising in register, before the finish settles into citrus marmalade and the lily-scented restraint of a quiet garden. It is convivial without theatricality, a wine that persuades rather than insists, inviting the drinker into its rhythm rather than commanding it. In my own tasting, I felt as though the wine were a companion at the table: alert, considerate, and endlessly engaging.

The 2013 Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, by contrast, speaks with the voice of geology and memory.

Drawn from Avize, the cathedral of chalk, it begins with lemon in layered incarnations - zest, cream, and pastry - and a saline whisper that recalls sea spray and samphire, bringing the Atlantic to the vineyards’ doorstep. Hazelnut and cashew drift through the mid-palate like a gentle echo of human craft, while Parisian flan - deconstructed, ethereal - adds an unexpected richness. Subtle smokiness, like embers long cooled, lingers beneath, hinting at the fire of summer sunshine that nurtured this late 2013 vintage.

The vintage itself seems etched into the wine’s character. A cool, hesitant spring gave way to a sunlit reprieve in July and August, and the wine embodies that balance between restraint and illumination. The texture is quietly powerful, precise yet inviting, a reminder that great wines are not always grandiose but are instead moments of perfect negotiation between human intent and natural circumstance.

In both wines, one senses the rare alchemy of collaboration. Penfolds’ venture into Champagne was never about mimicry; it is an act of listening, of humility, of curiosity. The Brut Rosé offers sociability, conversation, and warmth, while the Blanc de Blancs offers reflection, meditation, and the resonance of place. Together, they create a narrative arc in which structure and sensuality converse, where the past is acknowledged without burden, and where innovation arises from attentiveness rather than assertion.

In tasting, we are struck not only by flavor but by gesture. Each sip invites reflection, each pause allows narrative to unfold, each finish leaves space for memory. There is something literary here, something almost musical: The wines are essays written in mousse and chalk dust, in citrus oils and the faint nutty echoes of history, in patience and quiet ambition. They reward attention without demanding it, asking the drinker to inhabit both vineyard and imagination simultaneously.

For us, this collaboration is the kind of instant affection that makes one fall in love repeatedly, each encounter revealing new layers. It is rare to find wines that are simultaneously disciplined and generous, that are precise yet warmly human. Penfolds x Thiénot is such a thing - a conversation you want to linger in, a friendship you hope endures, and a narrative that feels only partially told, inviting the drinker to finish it with their own senses.

---

Words by AW.

Photos courtesy of Penfolds.