Seppeltsfield Estate in Barossa Valley as living museum of Australian wine making with cellar of centuries-old ports
Seppeltsfield Estate in South Australia’s Barossa Valley was highlighted by its Centennial Cellar with an unbroken lineage of every vintage from 1878 as a living museum of Australian winemaking history. Tours included the chance to try a 100-year-old Para vintage tawny port.
Seppeltsfield Estate, started in 1851, was the most historic winery and a tourism showpiece in South Australia’s Barossa Valley. The South Australian state-heritage-listed estate evolved into a tourism village offering wine, food, craft, design, art and retail experiences, with the winery and cellar door at its centre.
Seppeltsfield’s founder Joseph Seppelt and his eldest son (Oscar) Benno were particularly renowned for their longer term vision for the estate. Most significant of that legacy was the Centennial Cellar, an unparalleled system of maturing single barrels of vintage tawny for 100 years before release. In 1866, plans for a bluestone cellar were started by Joseph. Twelve years later, in 1878 and, after his father died, Benno completed the stone cellars and selected a puncheon of his finest wine and instructed that it was not to be bottled for 100 years. That single barrel of 1878 tawny port remained maturing in a separate room for 100 years.
The tradition of laying down a barrel of the finest wine from each vintage was continued every year afterwards. The Centennial Cellar had an unbroken lineage of every vintage from 1878 as a living museum of Australian winemaking history.
Seppeltsfield became most famed for the Centennial Cellar, housing the longest unbroken line of single vintage tawnies in the world for every year back to 1878 – a living museum of Australian winemaking history. The estate remained the only winery in the world to release a 100-year-old single vintage wine – the renowned Seppelt Para liqueur tawny – each year. Tours included the chance to try a 100-year-old Para vintage tawny port.
The estate also boasted a remarkable collection of spera (Australian sherry), crossing fino to oloroso styles, rokay and muscat, all held in vast Solero nursery cellars. More recently, the recommissioning of the 1888 Gravity Cellar revitalised the estate’s prowess with still wines.
More than 420 acres surrounded Seppeltsfield estate with its 12 heritage-listed buildings, including the Seppelt family homestead, ancient vineyards and 2,000 Canary Island palm trees at its entrance. Besides its tours and own cellar door, Seppeltsfield estate in 2024 offered side attractions including the only regional branch of Adelaide's JamFactory Craft & Design studios, Fino destination restaurant, Dragan fine art photography hallery, Vasse Virgin skin care and a Segway tour. Seppeltsfield Estate also offered accoommodation options through The Lodge and Stonewell cottages and vineyards.
The estate returned to private ownership in 2007 under Warren Randall – a qualified viticulturist and winemaker who worked for the Seppelt family during the 1980s. Randall, supported by investors Randolph and Anita Bowen, Peg Lindner and family, and Nathan and Candice Waks, viewed his role as keeping alive the Seppelt family legacy.