Treasury Wine Estates has agreed a tie-up with Formula 1 for its flagship Penfolds brand with this year’s Australian Grand Prix.
The arrangement, confirmed today (9 February), sees Penfolds take on ‘event supporter’ status with the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026. Details such as the sum paid for the deal, as well as its time frame, were not immediately available.
The brand will provide a “selection” of its wines for the “premium hospitality venues” across the four days of the grand prix meet in Melbourne from 5-8 March. Also included in the package is a “curated Penfolds restaurant pairing” and a guided tasting led by a brand ambassador, while a wider range from Treasury’s wines produced in Victoria will be available around the event’s general admission areas.
“The Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix offers an extraordinary platform to share our wines, celebrate 75 years of [Penfolds brand extension] Grange, and mark moments with wine lovers and F1 fans in Australia and those visiting from around the globe,” said brand CMO Kristy Keyte.
Formula One has a high concentration of alcohol brand owners among its sponsors, including Pernod Ricard for Chivas Regal with the Ferrari team, William Grant & Sons for Glenfiddich with Aston Martin, Brown-Forman’s Jack Daniel’s with McLaren and Suntory Global Spirits for Jim Beam with Cadillac. Heineken is one of the competition’s race-naming sponsors, holding naming rights to the China and Las Vegas Grand Prix – and adding the Brazilian, Spanish and British races to the tie-up in November – while Moet Hennessy’s parent, LVMH, leverages a raft of its marks, including Belvedere vodka and Whispering Angel rosé, through its headline sponsor status.
Treasury is scheduled to report the results from its fiscal first half – the six months to the end of December – on 16 February.
