I’ve just discovered a fascinating press release that I missed a few weeks back.
It’s trumpeting the release of the brand-new Mount Ophir Shiraz 2019 that will be released next week for an astonishing $500/bottle.
Woah.
There is a great story here though…
Mount Ophir Estate itself dates back to 1891, with this grand Rutherglen estate rising to be one of Victoria’s most prominent wine producers (with impressive ‘French provincial buildings’) by the early 1900s. Sadly the property was sold in the fifties, with a small 3ha plot replanted in the 1990s when the buildings were turned into a BnB.
More recently, Angela, Eliza & Nick Brown (of All Saints & St Leonards Vineyard) purchased the property and set about revitalising the grand old buildings while relaunching the brand.
This Mount Ophir Shiraz 2019 then serves as the official wine restart – a $500 halo for the label and a way to get people talking. Mission accomplished.
In some ways, this is just obviously clever marketing. The Brown’s are apt marketers (and good people, I’ve got no beef with them), so I’m not surprised. It’s not a huge liability either, as with just 0.5ha of Shiraz vines you might get 3 tonnes of grapes in Rutherglen, which translates to just 2100 litres of wine, or circa 218 dozen. So if it doesn’t sell at $500 a pop, it doesn’t matter all that much. It’s being offered as a pre-release to drum up interest, which serves as an acquisition/hype tool too.
Yet does it actually need to be $500 to make a statement?
Outside of the heritage factor, there isn’t that much to get excited about. Nick Brown is a good winemaker, but you can buy his All Saints 1920 Old Vine Shiraz for $80 to experience what he can do with Shiraz. The Mount Opher vines aren’t anywhere near that old either, the vineyard having lost its 1891 plantings. Further, the terroir seems more celebrated for Rutherglen, but it’s not vaunted. It’s all a bit emperor’s new clothers for me, as you’re getting a nod to history for a price that is 7-10 times what you’d pay for premium Rutherglen Shiraz.
In conclusion, while value is subjective, there’s a missing element here to justify the expense for mine, as $500 buys a shitload of good Australian Shiraz. Having not tasted the wine (and not likely to have a chance) I can’t comment on the quality, so that’s the outlier. That said, $500 can buy you four bottles of Clonakilla’s new 2019 Syrah which has (arguably) four times the pedigree and the same mid-weight Syrah/Shiraz intentions. You’ll even get enough leftover to buy a bottle of the delicious All Saints Muscat as well.
I know what I’d choose.
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4 Comments
I’m finding more wineries are making ambit claims like this asking a ridiculous price for something that has no track record. As a regular premium wine buyer there is no way I’d outlay that kind of cash to try a new brand. In fact it puts me off as being all about marketing & less about substance. As you say it’s got your attention, but where do they go to from there? If you take Tyrrells for instance, it took them 160 year to master & refine their craft & only in the last 5 years have they edged their super premium uber limited Sacred Sites wines over the $100 mark (now $150). There is something to be said about substance & authenticity.
Spot on Cathy, and the Tyrrell’s example is perfect. I keep thinking about Peter Simic’s ridiculous $1000 Fleurieu red, which is still a 2010 vintage because no one bought it, even in China…
This is delusional. Just to sell approx 218 doz? Next year – what then? $600 a bottle or $150 – it will be interesting to see, but count me out either way!
What does “mission accomplished” mean to me? A footnote about another winery that puts marketing ambition ahead of anything else, and to dismiss when another of their offerings come my way. Ho Hum, lets move on shall we.