On this unique 30-minute small-group activity you’ll be hosted by a wine educator who will tell you about the history of the Centennial Cellar and its wines dating back to 1878. See 140+ years of wine in barrels and taste directly from the barrel the award-winning 100 year old Para Vintage Tawny.
Seppeltsfield Winery’s founder, Joseph Seppelt and his eldest son, Benno, were renowned for their long-term vision for the estate, closely following custodianship principles to ensure a legacy that would be passed on to future generations.
Evidence of this can be seen in Benno Seppelt’s Centennial Cellar, which is an unparalleled system of maturing single barrels of vintage tawny for 100 years before release.
In 1866, plans to build a new bluestone cellar were undertaken by Joseph Seppelt. In 1878, following the passing of his father, Benno completed the stone cellars and gave instructions that wine from an 1878 barrel was not to be bottled for 100 years.
This single barrel of 1878 tawny port remained, maturing in a separate room within the bluestone cellars for 100 years. The tradition of laying down a barrel of the finest wine from each vintage has continued every year since that time.
The Centennial Cellar now comprises an unbroken lineage of every vintage from the current year back to 1878, and is a living museum of Australian winemaking history.