Seppeltsfield

Seppeltsfield was established in 1851 by Joseph and Johanna Seppelt, who were originally from Silesia, an area the estate describes as now within Poland and on the Czech border. In 1851 Joseph Seppelt purchased 158 acres in the Hundred of Nuriootpa from Hermann Kook, farmer of Tanunda, at one pound an acre; he named it Seppeltsfield and first intended to farm tobacco, with later generations concentrating on grape growing and winemaking. The estate's timeline dates the planting of the Great Terraced Vineyard to 1855 and the first vintage to 1856. The business grew rapidly in the late 1800s, supplying England with wines and spirits and providing medicinal brandy to Australian hospitals. Oscar Benno Seppelt built a distillery that opened on November 16, 1877, completed the Centennial Cellar in 1878 and the Gravity Cellar in 1888. The estate's timeline records that the business was registered as a company, B Seppelt and Sons, in 1902, and that from 1929 more than 2,000 palm trees were planted along the road from Marananga to the estate.

• 1851: Joseph Seppelt buys 158 acres in the Hundred of Nuriootpa and names it Seppeltsfield
• 1855: Great Terraced Vineyard planted; 1856: first vintage
• 1877: Distillery opened; 1878: Centennial Cellar completed; 1888: Gravity Cellar completed
• 1902: Business registered as B Seppelt and Sons

In 1878 Benno Seppelt completed the stone Centennial Cellar, selected a puncheon of his finest wine and gave instructions that it was not to be bottled for 100 years. The estate says the tradition of laying down a barrel of the finest wine from each vintage has continued every year since, and the Centennial Cellar now holds an unbroken lineage of every vintage from the current year back to 1878. The first 100 Year Old Tawny, from 1878, was released in 1978. Decanter reported in 2025 that the first Para Tawny laid down in 1878 was a single 500-litre puncheon, that stocks were increased to four puncheons per vintage in the late 1970s, and that eight puncheons from each vintage have been reserved since Warren Randall took over as proprietor in 2009. The current release is the 1926 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny, sold in 100ml bottles that are individually numbered and signed by Warren Randall and Bill Seppelt, great, great grandson of Joseph and Johanna Seppelt. The estate describes the Centennial Cellar as South Australian heritage-listed.

• 1878: Benno Seppelt lays down a puncheon not to be bottled for 100 years
• 1978: First release of the 100 Year Old Tawny from 1878
• 149 consecutive vintages in the Centennial Collection; current release 1926
• 100ml bottles, individually numbered, signed by Warren Randall and Bill Seppelt

The Seppelt family maintained ownership of their wine interests, including Seppeltsfield, until 1985, when B Seppelt and Sons was sold to SA Brewery Holdings. The estate's timeline records that SA Brewery Holdings was sold to Southcorp in 1990, that Foster's Group acquired Southcorp and Seppeltsfield in 2005, and that in 2007 Foster's Group sold Seppeltsfield to an Australian consortium of investors including Warren Randall. Randall became majority shareholder in 2009. The estate's timeline also records that it secured the original Seppeltsfield trademark in 2017, and its winemaking page links the still wine collection to gaining full ownership of the trademark that year.

• Seppelt family ownership until 1985
• 1985: B Seppelt and Sons sold to SA Brewery Holdings; 1990: SA Brewery Holdings sold to Southcorp
• 2005: Foster's Group acquires Southcorp and Seppeltsfield
• 2007: Sold to an Australian consortium of investors including Warren Randall; 2009: Randall becomes majority shareholder

As listed on the estate's winemaking page in September 2026: Warren Randall is Executive Chairman and Proprietor; he worked for the Seppelt family at Great Western in Victoria during the 1980s. Fiona Donald is Chief Winemaker; she joined Seppeltsfield in 2009, was central to the winemaking resurrection of the 1888 Gravity Cellar, and is custodian of the Centennial Cellar. Charlie Seppelt is Senior Winemaker and is fifth generation of Seppeltsfield's founding family. Julian Bermingham is Winemaker and joined Seppeltsfield in 2023. Kingsley Fuller is Group Viticulturist, leading the vineyard team across twenty-five individual sites in the Barossa and Eden Valley.

• Warren Randall: Executive Chairman and Proprietor
• Fiona Donald: Chief Winemaker (joined 2009)
• Charlie Seppelt: Senior Winemaker, fifth generation of the founding family
• Julian Bermingham: Winemaker (joined 2023); Kingsley Fuller: Group Viticulturist

Vineyards immediately surrounding the estate span over 250 acres, planted to Shiraz, Grenache and Cabernet with small plantings of Touriga; the extended vineyards run across the Western ridge of the Barossa and into the Eden Valley. The Great Terraced Vineyard, on an estate hillside, is bush vine Grenache growing in clay loam with outcrops of ironstone, quartz and bluestone. Originally planted in 1855, it was replanted in contoured rows in 1958 by Karl Joseph (KJ) Seppelt, and the estate gives its vines as 60 to 80 years of age. Its Grenache was traditionally used entirely for fortified wine and is now also made into still wines. The Grounds range of single vineyard Shiraz draws on named sites: for the 2021 vintage, 'The Westing' came from V Block, 'The Southing' from Chooks Block and 'The Northing' from the Katingi vineyard. The 1888 Gravity Cellar, built into the hillside on a series of terraces, uses gravity to move fruit down through the winery.

• Over 250 acres of vineyards immediately surrounding the estate
• Great Terraced Vineyard: bush vine Grenache, planted 1855, replanted in contoured rows 1958
• Extended vineyards across the Western ridge of the Barossa and into the Eden Valley
• 1888 Gravity Cellar: terraced, gravity-fed winery revived for the 2010 vintage

The fortified range centres on the Para Tawny Collection; the estate says Para is the name of the river that meanders through the Barossa landscape. Current listings include Seppeltsfield Para Grand Tawny, Seppeltsfield Para Rare Tawny and Seppeltsfield Single Vintage 21 Year Old Para Tawny from the 2000 and 2005 vintages, alongside the Centennial Collection's 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny. The estate also describes a collection of Apera (Australian Sherry) from Fino to Oloroso styles, Tokay and Muscat. The still wines are grouped into three collections. The Village Collection includes Barossa Shiraz, Grenache, Grenache Rose, Touriga, Mataro, Nero d'Avola, Carmenere and Vermentino, plus a Watervale Single Vineyard Riesling and a Moscato. The Bench Blends, inspired by the art of assemblage, include a Barossa Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro, a Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, a Barossa Touriga Tinta Amarela, and the numbered No.EC405 Barossa Shiraz Mataro and No.EC403 Barossa Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro; the estate says blends carrying an 'EC' (East Cellar) number were first released by the founding family in the 1960s. The Single Vineyard Collection comprises the Great Terraced Vineyard Single Vineyard Barossa Grenache and the Grounds Collection of single vineyard Shiraz, 'The Northing', 'The Southing' and 'The Westing'.

• Para Tawny Collection: Para Grand Tawny, Para Rare Tawny, Single Vintage 21 Year Old Para Tawny
• Centennial Collection: 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny (current release 1926)
• Village Collection and Bench Blends, including the EC-numbered blends
• Single Vineyard Collection: Great Terraced Vineyard Grenache; 'The Northing', 'The Southing' and 'The Westing' Shiraz

Seppeltsfield describes its still wine house style as "wines of style and elegance, medium weight and aromatic, with future ageing potential." For the fortifieds, the estate says the Para Tawny Collection is fortified with a creamy, aromatic brandy spirit that imparts a spiced complexity during extensive ageing in seasoned oak, and that the fortified collection shares a house style of a medium-weight profile with aromatic notes of lightly toasted almonds and papery almond skins. In the Village Collection, the estate says the reds are made in a 'joven' style with no oak maturation, except the Shiraz, which sees moderate French oak. The estate credits the gravity-fed, minimal handling approach of the Gravity Cellar, together with open fermentation, with heightened aromatics and purity of fruit.

• Still wines, in Seppeltsfield's words: style and elegance, medium weight and aromatic, with ageing potential
• Fortifieds: medium-weight profile with notes of lightly toasted almonds and papery almond skins, per the estate
• Village Collection reds made 'joven' without oak, except the Shiraz
• Gravity-fed, minimal handling winemaking with open fermentation in the 1888 Gravity Cellar

The cellar door is open to the public from 10:30am to 5pm daily, with closures on Good Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. A tour of the 1878 Centennial Cellar includes a taste of the 100 year old Para Vintage Tawny. Other businesses on the estate include FINO Seppeltsfield Restaurant, Café at Seppeltsfield, JamFactory Craft and Design Studios, Vasse Virgin Natural Olive Oil Skincare and Prohibition Distillery. The estate's timeline records that JamFactory opened in 2013 in the 1850s stables building and that the original Bottling Hall was redeveloped into the Cellar Door and FINO Restaurant in 2014.

• Cellar door open 10:30am to 5pm daily (closed Good Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day)
• Centennial Cellar tour with a taste of the 100 year old Para Vintage Tawny
• On-site: FINO Seppeltsfield Restaurant, JamFactory, Vasse Virgin, Prohibition Distillery

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://seppeltsfield.com.au/, https://seppeltsfield.com.au/history/, https://seppeltsfield.com.au/seppeltsfield-historical-timeline/, https://seppeltsfield.com.au/the-estate-2/, https://seppeltsfield.com.au/the-estate/vineyards-cellars/, https://seppeltsfield.com.au/our-winemaking/, https://seppeltsfield.com.au/tour-discover-2/daily-tours-tastings/, https://seppeltsfield.com.au/seppeltsfield-welcomes-new-winemaker-and-celebrate-with-luxury-still-wine-collection-releases/, https://seppeltsfield.com.au/shop/centennial-collection/, https://seppeltsfield.com.au/fortified-wines/, https://seppeltsfield.com.au/red-white-rose-sparkling-wines/. Secondary source: Decanter (David Sly, 'Seppeltsfield unveils 1925 Para Vintage Tawny', February 19, 2025). Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Last verified 2026-09-24