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French wine consultant Michel Rolland has presented a wine project that brings together wines from five countries around the world from Bordeaux grape varieties in a cuvée. From this, he is composing a blend called "Pangaea", which will cost around 500 euros per bottle. Only 2,500 bottles are produced per vintage.
The Pangaea project is a partnership between Rolland and South African investor Travis Braithwaite, who was born in Canada but grew up in Stellenbosch. The two released a few bottles of the inaugural 2015 vintage back in September 2022. Michel Rolland is planning the official launch with the 2016 vintage together with his daughter Stephanie during VinExpo Singapore in May 2023.
Each grape variety in the cuvée comes from a defined origin: Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, Merlot from the Right Bank in Bordeaux, Petit Verdot from Dehesa del Carrizal as "Vino de Pago" in Spain, Cabernet Franc from Helderberg in South Africa, and Malbec from Valle de Uco in Argentina. However, the winemaker did not specify who produces the base wines. The wines are matured in barrels at the producers and transported in double-walled steel tanks with a volume of 50 to 300 litres. For the 2015, 2016 and 2017 vintages, they were transported by ship in order to guarantee the quality of the wine and the temperature, Travis Braithwaite explained to Jane Anson's blog "Inside Bordeaux". In Napa Valley, the wines are matured until bottling and then blended into a cuvée.
Penfold's launched a similar project in Australia a few years ago. At that time, cuvées were bottled with wines from Napa and Australia and later from Bordeaux and South Australia.
(uka / Source: Inside Bordeaux)