Today, Seppeltsfield unveil their annual collection of luxury still wines which is says is a "story of the exceptional 2020 and 2021 vintages".

The winery's fortified wines are celebrated internationally and Seppeltsfield say that they are ambitious for their still wines to match the reputation of its fortified wine collection.

Fiona Donald, Chief Winemaker, said: 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."

Ms Donald said that 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," she said.

“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."

2021 Great Terraced Vineyard Single Vineyard Grenache

The second release of the 2021 Great Terraced Vineyard Single Vineyard Grenache is a highlight of the collection. The grapes hand pruned and hand-picked from the jewel in the crown: the Estate’s icon vineyard.

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.

Andrew Caillard's Vintage Journal awarded the wine 97 points and described it as a "beautifully balanced wine with gentle musky plum, strawberry, red cherry, raspberry fruits, a touch of roasted hazelnut/ mocha, fine slinky/ supple textures, superb mid-palate viscosity, and well integrated fresh long mineral acidity".

The Grounds: The Southing & The Westing Shiraz

The 2020 vintage release of the ‘Grounds’ range – Single Vineyard Barossa Shiraz 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, and in future years, Seppeltsfield will release wines released from all four points of the compass.

The Real Review's Huon Hooke described The Westing as a "super-serious wine which is very savoury and structured and promises to reward long cellaring".

Bench Blends

Bench Blends new releases are also made 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 per cent 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 carrying an ‘EC’ (East Cellar) number were first released by Seppeltsfield’s founding family in the 1960s and formed the inspiration for this range.

Seppeltsfield 2022 Luxury Collection Range
Great Terraced Vineyard:
  • Seppeltsfield 2021 Great Terraced Vineyard Single Vineyard Barossa Grenache $85 AUD
Grounds:
  • Seppeltsfield 2020 ‘The Westing’ Single Vineyard Barossa Shiraz $85 AUD
    • Seppeltsfield 2020 ‘The Southing’ Single Vineyard Barossa Shiraz $85 AUD
Bench Blends:
  • Seppeltsfield 2020 ‘No. EC405’ Barossa Shiraz, Mataro $50 AUD
    • Seppeltsfield 2021 ‘No. EC3’ Barossa Tinta Cao, Tinta Amarela, Touriga $50 AUD

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