Featured Winery: Seppeltsfield
With
a proud and priceless legacy dating back to 1851, Seppeltsfield is Australia’s
most iconic wine estate. Seppeltsfield was established in the Barossa Valley by
Joseph and Johanna Seppelt just 15 years after the European settlement of South
Australia. One of the largest and most modern wineries in the world of its
time, Seppeltsfield went on to thrive as an artisan community throughout the
early 1900’s. Steeped in rich Barossan heritage,
the estate is considered a true national treasure which helped shape the
history of the Australian wine industry.
Seppeltsfield’s history is punctuated with many moments of visionary foresight.
Seppeltsfield’s founder, Joseph Seppelt and his eldest son, Benno, were
particularly renown for their longer term vision
for the estate, closely following custodianship principles to ensure a legacy
was passed on to future generations. This is no more evident than Benno
Seppelt’s inception of the Centennial Cellar - a truly unique and unparalleled
system of maturing single barrels of vintage Tawny for 100 years before
release.
In 1866, plans to build a new bluestone cellar were started by Joseph. 12 years later in 1878 and following the passing of his father, Benno completed the stone cellars. In a gesture both unique and inspirational, Benno selected a puncheon of his finest wine and gave instructions that it was not to be bottled for 100 years. This single barrel of 1878 Tawny port was to remain maturing in a separate room within the bluestone cellars, untouched in the same location 100 years. This special room would go on to become the ‘Centennial Cellar’.
The tradition of laying down a barrel of the finest wine from each vintage was continued every year following and continues to do so today. The Centennial Cellar now comprises an unbroken lineage of every vintage from the current year back to 1878. Seppeltsfield remains the only winery in the world to release a 100 year old, single vintage wine each year. Remarkably, the winery also offers the opportunity for visitors to also taste and purchase their birth year Tawny.
Seppeltsfield
Seppeltsfield Rd, Seppeltsfield SA 5355
Phone: 08 8568 6266
Email: cellarsales@seppeltsfield.com.au
www.seppeltsfield.com.au