Seppelt looks forward after 150 years at Great Western

After a short period when it looked as if Seppelt's historic Great Western facility would be closed for good, things are once again looking bright, although the winemaking has been switched to South Australia.

A deal with a local business group means the cellars and 3km of atmospheric underground cellars will remain open to the public – and wine tastings will continue as normal.

It is, in fact, a time of celebration with one of the oldest cellar doors in Australia marking its 150-year anniversary and the 50th release of its iconic old-vines St Peters Shiraz.

Owners Treasury Wine Estates are now including Seppelt as part of their “Regional Gems” initiative announced in January to showcase smaller regional wineries.

Seppelt is one of the oldest wineries in Victoria, with a history dating back to 1865 – but there is nothing old- fashioned about the brand.

Winemaker Adam Carnaby recently showed off an outstanding table wine made from 100% pinot meunier, and announced that future plans involve a gruner veltliner made from the company's cool Drumborg vineyards.

Tours of the property’s underground wine drives — which were hand-carved by miners in the 1800s — will continue, and accommodation and function facilities will remain open.

“The heart and soul of the wines is in the vineyards, much more so than where the wines are made,” Carnaby said. “When it comes to the wines, we are custodians of great vineyards.

“We’ve got great resources — Drumborg down in south-western Victoria, which is a great cool-climate vineyard, 150 years of winemaking here in the Grampians and also vineyards in central Victoria, so the brand has never been in a better place than in recent times,” he said.

“It’s feeling really positive.” 

Founded in 1851, Seppelt sources fruit from Great Western, Henty/Drumborg, and Heathcote. It was one of the first Australian wineries to produce commercial sparkling wines and helped pioneer sparkling shiraz.

Some of Australia's greatest winemakers have worked at the facility, including founder Joseph Best, Hans Irvine, Benno and Karl Seppelt, Colin Preece and Ian McKenzie.   

# The writer was a guest of Seppelt Great Western