Established in 1851 and home to the world’s only unbroken lineage of single vintage Tawny – that dates back to 1878 – the Centennial Collection, Seppeltsfield has set itself the task of building a similar reputation for its still wines through its annual Luxury Collection.
Seppeltsfield chief winemaker, Fiona Donald, said the wines reflect on the winery’s 174-year history as well as highlighting its future.
“We remain dedicated to our ambition to match our reputation for the fortified wine collection with the luxury still wine collection. We are proud of this year’s 2025 Luxury Collection release, showcasing wines from the diverse 2023 and 2024 vintages.
“The wines ultimately define our Seppeltsfield House Style – elegant, medium weight and aromatic, with future ageing potential," Donald said.
Julian Bermingham. (Image: Seppeltsfield)
The winery gained full ownership of its trademark in 2017, which marked the new chapter for the label and its vision to match the reputation of the fortified wine collection with the luxury still wine collection.
The Seppeltsfield 2025 Luxury Collection is headlined by the third release from the Estate icon vineyard, the Great Terrace Vineyard Grenache, from the 2024 vintage. 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 highest possible quality.
Alongside the Grenache sits two wines from ‘Grounds’ range – Single Vineyard Barossa Shiraz from the 2023 vintage. The expressions include Western Grounds, ‘The Westing’ sourced from ‘V Block’ and Northern Grounds, ‘The Northing’ sourced from ‘Seppeltsfield Block C’ vineyard.
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 Westing’ and ‘The Northing’ showcase the distinctive differences that vineyard location and regional terroir can make to Shiraz from the 2023 vintage. The two wines were harvested only four days apart, starting with ‘The Westing’ first, followed by the ‘The Northing’. Fermented through the historic 1888 Gravity Cellar and matured in new and seasoned French oak hogsheads for 14 months.
In addition, there are the ‘Bench Blends’ new releases, showcasing the 2023 and 2024 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.
Each year, the final bottlings are determined by not only the season, but also the very best combination of red varietals to create both a traditional and contemporary style blend.
This is the third release of a much loved traditional, Australian blend, ‘Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz’. The 2023 Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz blend consists of 53 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon with Shiraz making up 47 per cent of the final blend. Alongside this is the more contemporary expression of traditional Portuguese varieties from the 2024 vintage, Barossa Touriga, Tinta Amarela. The blend is 70 per cent Touriga, with 30 per cent Tinta Amarela.
“The 2024 vintage started with an early budburst and enjoyed mild temperatures through spring and summer, coupled with a dry season that allowed for optimal ripening, yielding exceptional quality and strong maturation potential, for years to come.
“This is the third release from the Estate icon vineyard, the 2024 Great Terraced Vineyard Single Vineyard Barossa Grenache, put simply our best yet. Showcasing bright aromatics, structured elegance with fine tannins.
“The 2023 vintage was characterised by a later start and cooler conditions, yet delivered high-quality wines with intense flavours and excellent structure, particularly Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon,” Donald said.
Now available at the Seppeltsfield Cellar Door in the Barossa or its website.
