Seppeltsfield

Located in the western part of the Barossa Valley Seppeltsfield Winery shares the landscape along with rolling grain fields. In the Greenock and Marananga areas, the farm cultivates vines, a significant number of which have grown their roots deep into the ground for decades. A road lined with more than 2,000 canaries leads to the farm, which has been known for its very memorable and warm hospitality since the beginning of the Seppelt family.

Joseph Seppelt and his eldest son Benno founded the Seppeltsfield estate in 1851 with the vision of creating something lasting and valuable in the area. Joseph started building his farm and stone cellar in 1866, and twelve years later, after his father passed away, Benno completed the construction of the stone cellar. Permanence and continuity are signaled by the Tawny aged in oak barrels in 1878, which Benno forbade bottling for 100 years. Still, the estate deliberately leaves wine barrels in its cellars for future generations to find, and there are barrels in the cellars from every year from 1878 until today. The estate is known for the world's oldest unbroken series of vintage wines called the Centennial Collection, and it still releases a 100-year-old vintage every year.

In 1888, winemaking facilities that rely on gravity began to be manufactured, adapting to the rolling terrain in a terraced manner. Thus, the production process follows a natural flow from the reception of the grapes to the maturation of the wines. Today, almost every winery strives to use gravity in its production process, but at the end of the 19th century, Seppeltsfield was definitely ahead of the rest in its thinking and thus an example for other producers in the region. A terraced orchard grows next to the winemaking facilities, with the oldest Grenache vines planted in 1855.

Seppeltsfield's orchards grow traditional Barossa varieties, Shiraz, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon. In addition, the farm cultivates small amounts of Touriga Nacional and Palomino. Today, some of the nursery areas also reach the Eden Valley side, where the soil consists of quartz and slate, and the rows of vines on the slopes are terraced. In the Eden Valley, Seppeltsfield focuses on Grenache growing as bush vines, with the orchards being 60-80 years old. Some of the grapes produced by the vines are still used to make concentrated red wine, tawny, but some also produce dry red wine.

The Seppelt family continued to run the farm until 1985. For 22 years, the farm changed ownership from one company to another, but in 2007 it was bought by Warren Randall, an influential Barossa vintner and producer who had worked on the Seppelt family farm in the 1980s. Warren feels that through his own work, he is continuing the legacy of his former employers, the Seppelt family, as part of the local community. Fiona Donald has been the head winemaker of the estate since 2009, who before Seppeltsfield worked at several well-known Australian wineries, such as Hardy and Penfolds.

Today, wine is produced under the Seppeltsfield brand from the farm's 30 hectares, with an annual production of 120,000 bottles.

https://seppeltsfield.com.au/