Seppeltsfield is one of Australia’s most historic wineries, established in the Barossa in 1851.
Seppeltsfield has long been internationally renowned for its treasure trove of fortified wines, highlighted by the Centennial Collection – the world’s only unbroken lineage of single vintage Tawny dating back to 1878. But the spotlight is now on the luxury collection of still wines only possible since recently gaining full ownership of its trademark in 2017.
Today, Seppeltsfield unveil their annual collection of luxury still wines – the story of the exceptional 2020 and 2021 vintages. The release follows the vision to match the reputation of the fortified wine collection with the luxury still wine collection.
Headlined by the second release of the 2021 Great Terraced Vineyard Single Vineyard Grenache, hand pruned and hand-picked from the Estate’s icon vineyard, firmly positioned as the jewel in the crown for the luxury still wine collection going forward. The Great Terraced Vineyard consists of bush vine Grenache and was originally planted in 1855 and re-planted in contoured rows to follow the natural shape of the land, commencing in 1958. Original cuttings were vigorously selected to ensure the best possible quality. Fermented in the historic 1888 Gravity Cellar, gently extracting colour and tannin, resulting in a pure and fine translation of the Great Terraced Vineyard.
In addition, we see the 2020 vintage release of the ‘Grounds’ range – Single Vineyard Barossa Shiraz. This is the very first Southern Grounds expression, ‘The Southing’ sourced from ‘Chooks Block’ as well as the follow up from the Western Grounds, ‘The Westing’ sourced from ‘V Block’. The range takes inspiration from Barossa Australia’s ‘Grounds project’, a comprehensive study of the district’s sub-regionality, bringing together winemakers, grape growers and soil and climatic science experts, to evaluate and identify the variations in Shiraz wine expressions across the various parishes of the region. ‘The Southing’ and ‘The Westing’ showcase the differences that vineyard location and regional terroir can make to Shiraz from the 2020 vintage. The wines were harvested just 11 days apart, fermented through the historic 1888 Gravity Cellar and matured in new and seasoned French oak hogsheads for 14 months. The 2020 vintage is the third release, expect to see wines released from all four points of the compass in future vintages.
Further, ‘Bench Blends’ new releases are available, this year showcasing the 2020 and 2021 vintages. The range is centred on the winemaking art of ‘assemblage’, with the ambition to achieve a final blend that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is the very first release of a traditional Barossa blend, 2020 ‘No. EC405’ Barossa Shiraz, Mataro, with a strong influence of Mataro making up 34% of the final blend. Alongside this, a more contemporary expression of traditional Portuguese varieties from the 2021 vintage, ‘No. EC3’ Barossa Tinta Cao, Tinta Amarela, Touriga. Red varietal blends carry an ‘EC’ (East Cellar) number were first released by Seppeltsfield’s founding family in the 1960s and formed the inspiration for this range.
Fiona Donald, Chief Winemaker, said:
“This year’s luxury collection of wines is representative of the distinctively different 2020 and 2021 vintages. Both vintages however, delivered wines of style and depth, with future ageing potential in ideal cellaring conditions”.
“In 2020 we experienced a warm, dry and low yielding season with a mild finish, whereas in 2021, a cooler ripening season from start to finish, delivered a balanced crop of exceptional quality”.
“The 2021 vintage delivered a stellar Great Terraced Vineyard Single Vineyard Barossa Grenache, now firmly positioned as the jewel in the crown of our luxury still wine collection”.
Donald added, “We remain dedicated to our ambition to match our reputation for the fortified wine collection with the luxury still wine collection. Fortunately, we have the means to do so with the combination of superior luxury vineyard holdings, historic 1888 Gravity Cellar and a focussed team”.
The Seppeltsfield Winemaking team consists of Warren Randall (Executive Chairman and Proprietor), Fiona Donald (Chief Winemaker), Charlie Seppelt (Senior Winemaker), Matthew Pick (Senior Winemaker), Henry Slattery (Winemaker) and Kingsley Fuller (Group Viticulturist).
Now available to purchase here or at Seppeltsfield Cellar Door.
