Yahoo Finance Luxury vintage wine barrel to be sold as NFT
Australian winemaker Penfolds has partnered with BlockBar, a leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace for luxury wine and spirits products, to sell an NFT tied to a rare barrel of wine.
The digital token corresponds to a limited-edition Magill Cellar 3 barrel of wine made from vintage 2021, which is currently maturing.
One customer, randomly selected from of those who sign up to the sale, will have the opportunity to purchase the Penfolds Barrel NFT for $130,000 (£96,435) via ethereum (ETH-USD), credit card, or wire transfer.
The single barrel NFT will be converted into 300 bottle NFTs at the date of bottling of the wine in October 2022. The process will be verifiable through the blockchain, and each bottle will be given a unique barrel and bottle number for identification.
The barrel NFT can be resold or transferred through the BlockBar platform, but cannot be redeemed by the purchaser, Penfolds said.
The bottle NFTs can be resold or transferred through the BlockBar platform by the purchaser and can be redeemed for the physical bottle after the wine is released in October 2023. The bottles will be stored at BlockBar’s facility, until the buyer decides to exchange the bottle NFT for the physical bottle.
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The owner of the barrel NFT at the time of bottling in October 2022 will receive a personalised keepsake barrel head and will be invited to a private wine tasting in Magill Cellar 3 at Penfolds Magill Estate Winery in South Australia, a vineyard tour or a virtual tasting and visit to the winery.
The wine has tasting notes of "dark red fruits and sweet spices, with layers of briar, cardamom and cedar adding savoury complexity", according to Penfolds.
An NFT is a one-of-a-kind crypto asset which enables collectors to authenticate, own and trade original authenticated versions of special digital goods using blockchain technology.
They can be anything digital from drawings and paintings to music, but they can also be applied to a physical item such as a barrel of wine.
When an NFT is bought, the person purchasing receives a certificate secured in blockchain technology, which makes them the owner of that specific digital asset. Specifically, NFTs are typically held on the Ethereum blockchain, but other blockchains support them too.
This cannot be replicated or substituted, and it can only have one official owner at any given time.
Penfolds chief marketing officer Kristy Keyte said: "We are proud to partner with BlockBar to release our Penfolds Magill Cellar 3 NFT. This is our first venture selling wines via NFT and cryptocurrency, allowing us to connect and build relationships with new collectors, who buy and trade luxury wine in a completely new and refreshing way. The wine itself, Magill Cellar 3 from the 2021 vintage, is not available for public purchase making it the ultimate collector’s item."
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BlockBar Launched in November in partnership with single malt Scotch whisky Glenfiddich to release 15 bottles of a rare whisky, which sold out in only four seconds.
Dov Falic, CEO of BlockBar, said: "We believe the use case for authentication with blockchain technology is of utmost importance for the industry — with BlockBar, consumers know they are buying authentic wine direct from the brand owner."
