October 19, 2021 – Marananga, South Australia – Dave Powell, the influential independent Australian winemaker, will become the first vintner in the world to offer an entire vintage by NFT (Non-Fungible Token), when his 2021 Neldner Road single-vineyard wines go under the hammer on OpenSea this month.
Powell is the force behind two internationally acclaimed Barossa Valley wines: He is the founder of Torbreck Vintners, and more recently, Powell & Son. His new label, Neldner Road, continues to source grapes from the legendary vineyards that are at the heart of his life’s work in the Barossa Valley. He named the wine Neldner Road in honor of the Kraehe Vineyard, which is located there, along with many of the other vineyards Powell works with.
“These vineyards are some of the oldest in the world, older than France’s famous Bordeaux vineyards,” Powell says. “Over the last 100-plus growing seasons they have developed their own rich, complex characters, which are reflected in each of the Neldner Road wines. It’s taken me four decades of work here in the Barossa to find these vineyards and rejuvenate and maintain them, and ultimately create these wines. They are the best of my career.”
Powell was drawn to the idea of NFTs because they reminded him of how Bordeaux wines are sold through the en primeur system. In this centuries-old system, buyers are able to purchase wine while still in barrel, prior to bottling. Allocations are locked in and provenance is guaranteed, all usually at a lower price than the wine will bring when officially released.
“Selling by NFT is also about bringing my wines to a new audience, who may not already be in the fine wine market,” Powell says. “Like NFT artwork, our wine is rare – we make just 100 barrels each vintage. It’s unique – every vintage and bottling is different. And wine is the original collectible – personal wine collections have been dated back nearly 4,000 years.”
Like Powell’s previous work at Torbreck and Powell & Son, Neldner Road comprises single vineyard bottlings made from some of the finest sites in the Barossa and Eden valleys, including Steinert, Brennecke, Kleinig, Loechal, and Hermann, along with Kraehe. Reviews of the most recent vintages of Powell & Son have been stellar, with the wines being scored in the mid to high 90s by the world’s major critics.
A total of 101 Neldner Road NFTs will be auctioned on OpenSea, a website that is the first and largest marketplace for NFTs and cryptocollectibles. The sale begins October 19, starting with a single NFT that includes the entire vintage (all 100 barrels). At the same time, 100 individual NFTs will be offered, each representing a single barrel (225 liters) from the vintage. If the full vintage (NFT#1) is purchased, the remaining NFTs will be burned. The auction concludes November 17, 2021 at 5:30 PM PST.
In addition to the wine, each NFT in the auction will include:
- Digital artwork of the individual barrel head with a brass plaque personalized for the buyer
- Cellaring of the barrel by Neldner Road in the Barossa Valley, South Australia
- Bottling of the barrel of wine into the buyer’s choice of bottle formats
- Personalized wine labels
- Cellaring of the wine until ready for shipping
- The physical barrel head with personalized brass plaque mailed to buyer after bottling
- The opportunity to work a day with Powell and his team making Neldner Road during the 2022 vintage, plus dinner with the team afterwards.
For a detailed list of the Neldner Road OpenSea lots, please see: https://opensea.io/NeldnerRoad
The timing of the offering of these Neldner Road wine NFTs is significant because 2021 has been singled out by many Barossa winemakers as the best vintage for Australian wine in living memory.
“I’ve worked for more than 40 years to put myself in the right place at the right time, and it feels to me that this moment has arrived,” Powell says. “The fruit is simply the best I’ve ever worked with and the wines are the best I’ve ever made. Making compelling, world-class wine requires the balancing of hard-earned craftsmanship with an elemental sensibility and appreciation of the art of winemaking. Everything has come together with this vintage and it’s only appropriate that we’re offering the wines through NFTs. the NFT represents the nexus of art and commerce, and I’m excited that Neldner Road will be a pioneer in this new realm.”
