Grapevine Stories - Part 4 - A Step Back Into The Future

Andrew Caillard MW interviewed on Perth's Curtin Radio about The Wine Journal 2023

In preparation for Green Wine Future 2022, Andrew Caillard MW has been asked to create a series of podcasts to explore how the Australian wine industry is preparing for climate change. In Episode 4, Andrew discusses sustainability in Australia with guests from Pernod Ricard, Chief Operations Officer Brett McKinnon and Global Communications Manager Sarah Descher.

In preparation for Green Wine Future 2022, Andrew Caillard MW has been asked to create a series of podcasts to explore how the Australian wine industry is preparing for climate change. In Episode 3, Andrew discusses sustainability in Australia with guests from Pernod Ricard, Chief Operations Officer Brett McKinnon and Global Communications Manager Sarah Descher.

In preparation for Green Wine Future 2022, Andrew Caillard MW has been asked to create a series of podcasts to explore how the Australian wine industry is preparing for climate change. In Episode 2, Andrew discusses sustainability in Australia with guest Ben Harris, Viticulture Manager for Treasury Wine Estates across Australia and New Zealand.

In preparation for Green Wine Future 2022, Andrew Caillard MW has been asked to create a series of podcasts to explore how the Australian wine industry is preparing for climate change. In Episode 1, Andrew discusses sustainability in Australia with guests James March, Chief Executive Officer of Barossa Australia, and Kerrin Petty, Chief Supply Officer at Treasury Wine Estates.

Simon West and Darren Oemcke from Aussie Wine Chat catch up with Andrew Caillard and Angus Hughson to talk all things Vintage Journal and The Australian Ark project -  Andrew Caillard's upcoming 3 volume tome on the history of Australian wine, told through over 200 years of stories.

These Para Vintage Tawnies are really, really rare wines because they have lasted 100 years and they still exist after another century. You know, you can buy bottles of Claret or Burgundy that might be 100 years old, but you don't ever quite know how they're going to be. Now, some of those are lasting and they can be magnificent, but one of the things about fortified wine, and particularly about this particular style of wine, is they're being aged in such a way that they still have the freshness and… and the complexity and the flavours and all that kind of stuff that are just so compelling and interesting.You are listening to Andrew Caillard and this podcast is about the Seppeltsfield 1920 Para Vintage Tawny.The 1920s Seppeltsfield 100-year-old Para Vintage Tawny is one of the enduring traditions of the Australian wine industry. It was first inaugurated in 1878 when Benno Seppelt, one of the great 19th century visionaries of the South Australian wine industry, decided that he would put down a barrel every year, that would not be bottled for 100 years. One of the things that's so extraordinary about this wine is the fact that it has survived that vision, because Seppeltsfield has had a number of owners since that family, and that whole idea could have crashed. But I think that everybody who has ever been involved in this project sees a real value in creating or keeping alive such an extraordinary vision. And so these Para Vintage Tawnies represent some of the rarest contiguous bottlings of wine in the world. There are a number of other wineries in the world that have got wines that go back even into the 18th century, but there are very, very few wineries that actually have contiguous vintages, i.e., every single vintage ever made from the very beginning. And Seppeltsfield is one of those rare wineries. These 100-year-old Tawnies are based on Mataro, Shiraz, and Grenache, traditional varieties that are being grown in the Barossa Valley for a very, very long time. And after fermentation, the wines are fortified and then they are barrelled up. And when they're very young they're very callow and quite light, and it takes 100 years for them to concentrate and during this time the wine would evaporate - the angels’ share is the evaporation of alcohol and water that takes place over a very long, long period of time. So, the angels that kind of hang around these cellars must be extremely fat, because they've enjoyed probably more than their angels’ share over the years.And so by, after 100 years, it's almost like treacle. And there's a particular character about the wine that develops which… it’s a kind of magical thing that happens with maturation and where, and you can only get it in wines the very, very old, this kind of beautiful character which is called, rancio. You know, rancio is almost like a sensory patina. If you can think of how brass goes green over a period of time, you know, where there's this loveliness that happens through age and an exposure to air and to the elements. And it's something you just don't get, certainly in table wines, you don't get it. It's only something you can get and beautifully aged, particularly vintage Tawny particular styles. And then you also get these other characters, these leathery note, spices and raisins and prunes and dark chocolate. And some people describe these old wines a bit like liquid Christmas pudding.I think one of the things that makes these things really remarkable is that, when you taste the wine, you kind of know that the wines were picked by people in 1920, and then barrelled up by people in 1920, and so you can't help think about what was happening. And also, you know, what the ambition was in those days and how this wine has kind of traveled itself over a period of time.So, one can't help thinking about what people were doing in 1920. And one has to remember that Australia had a very, very difficult war, as in the First World War, which had finished in 1918. And some of the… some of the impact of the Treaty of Versailles, which really, rather than ending the War of All Wars, actually created antebellum and a period of peace, but not long lasting peace for all the reasons that many people know. So, you know, in some respects, you can say, “Well, there was a normality of life,” but it was a normality of life in the sense that… that it was a… it was peace, but it was also a depression. It wasn't… it wasn't so much a financial depression, but it was certainly a depression, the hangover from a terrible, terrible war. But nonetheless, there were quite a lot of things happening. And 100 years ago, of course, is a hell of a long time ago. It really was more or less around the time that the Soviet Union began, although it officially began in 1922 and ended in 1991, that experiment. So, you know, compared to some kind of political aspirations and such stuff, you know, this wine has outlasted, you know, all sorts of different tyrannies and hopefully, it will outlast any other tyrannies that happen as they come along.There was the League of Nations was created, which was really a kind of precursor to the United Nations, and would continue to be what that was until the foundation of the United Nations in the 1940s.There were a number of immigrants starting to come into Australia to build their lives. There was quite a lot of infrastructure that was starting to be built, the Princess Highway which linked Sydney to Adelaide via the coast through the States of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. You know, in the sky for instance, there was more aviation happening with the first successful flight from Melbourne to Perth was completed. And there was really kind of some great ambition about connecting Australia to the rest of the world. But perhaps one of the most important things that happened in 1920 in Australia was the creation of the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited, which became known as Q a n t a s. And of course, Australians being Australians call it Qantas. And it was a business that was registered in Winton in the outback of Queensland, and was created by 2 entrepreneurial aviators, Hudson Fysh and Paul McGuinness, who had come up with the idea of creating this business in 1919, when they drove 2247 kilometres from Longreach in Queensland, to Darwin in the Northern Territory, as part of the great air race to connect the UK and Australia.But I think what's really quite interesting about the success of Qantas and kind of framing it with Seppeltsfield in that they're both kind of enduring Australian marks is that they both kind of draw on the aspirations of people who really believed and loved their country so much. You know, we all hear about things like determination, vision, innovation, you know, and then all these clichés like the willingness to go further, you know, all those kind of stuff. But I think in the end, great countries have people who look at things beyond them. And it's not about them, it's about us. It's about creating something that is meaningful and will take communities to another level - provide jobs, provide futures for other people.We need to remember that Australia always thinks of itself as a really young country compared to everywhere else, and to some degree it is. But all those ambitions of our 19th Century forefathers and early 20th Century forefathers were incredibly visionary and the things that they did were well in advance of what was happening in Europe or the US. And I think that is what makes Australia such a remarkable country to have so many stories to show how much Australians punch above their weight in the world.For more information on the Seppeltsfield 1920 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny and other vintages from the Centennial Collection, visit seppeltsfield.com.au

I think Seppeltsfield Para Vintage Tawny is one of the great wine traditions of the world. They are extremely rare wines because they have lasted 100 years and they will continue to exist for another 100 or even 170 years. Although very old bottles of Bordeaux, Rioja or Burgundy have survived and sometimes are extraordinary – there are never any guarantees and most are curios. On the other hand, Seppeltsfield Para Vintage Tawnies were laid down with the ambition for them to last for at least 100 years and to be shared by not the next generation but generations after that. You are listening to Andrew Caillard and I am a wine expert and master of wine. This podcast is about the 1921 Seppeltsfield Para Vintage Tawny which comes from the glorious Barossa Valley in South Australia. It also coincides with the 170th anniversary of Seppeltsfield which was established by Joseph Seppelt in 1851. There is something utterly magical about tasting a 100-year-old wine. It’s like visiting an ancient monument – yet going back in time and being with the people who built it. It is an experience few of us ever have the opportunity to enjoy. Yet when it happens it is so memorable and heart-warming.The release of the 1921 Seppeltsfield Para Vintage Tawny – on its hundred birthday is a reminder that our forebears had great hope and visions for a prosperous Australia. When Benno Seppelt laid down a cask of 1878 Para Vintage Tawny at Seppeltsfield, he began a great tradition that has been respected and continued through depressions, world wars and intergenerational change - the tradition has lasted. Under the current ownership of vigneron Warren Randall, the visions of Benno and Oscar Seppelt have been geared to modern expectations. Seppeltsfield is very much a great 19th Century legacy and the centennial cellar epitomises the efforts and baton-changes of seven generations or more. There are few places in the world with such a collection of aged tawnies. After their century-long maturation these magnificent fortified wines are bottled in prime condition and offer a sensory experience like no other. They are so rare and extraordinary that the wines always seem to attract perfect scores – not because the wines are perfection – but because they offer a window into the past and go beyond the experience of a number. That sensory patina – known as rancio – is like a mystical and exotic aroma that wafts the mind away into another time.  And the taste is like peeling away layers of an onion – where every new sip unfolds another memory.  Few wines ever do that or unlock the emotions of nostalgia, feelings of place and sense of resilience - all at the same moment. This beautiful Para Vintage Tawny has survived the passage of time and developed into something ethereal and evocative.  It is a symbol of nature and loving nurture across generations. And that’s why I think it’s so special. And so what does the 1921 Seppeltsfield Para Vintage Tawny taste like?Well it’s really difficult to truly capture something ethereal and everchanging. But descriptors like marmalade, treacle, molasses, liquorice, mahogany, Indian spices, tobacco, dark chocolate, country gardens, dried raisins, dates and grilled nuts and everything in between give a sense of its complexity and proportions. It is an endless sensory kaleidoscope that changes with air. When you taste this 1921 Para you only need a thimble to understand its power, concentration and layered complexity. Even at the finish the taste is lasting. It takes at least a few minutes before the taste finally vanishes. Now you can understand why the wines are bottled in perfume bottles. It is the taste, and not the drink, that is etched in memory.1921 was a magnificent year in Australia – especially for grape growers and vignerons. It was regarded as one of the finest vintages ever gathered in South Australia. Combined with prices that could never have been dreamt of  - the wines promised vignerons a bumper year – with unmatched quality and quantity. At Seppeltsfield, winemaker Oscar Seppelt was excited. The company his grandfather Joseph had founded in 1851 had expanded to become the largest winery and drinks manufacturer in the Southern Hemisphere. The winery produced a bewildering range of table wines, sherries and spirits. But it also made cordials, vinegars and bitters for an increasingly sophisticated Australian market. The place was a magnificent 19th Century vision but harnessed to the new winemaking skills and technologies of the-day. Many Barossa growers had planted primarily shiraz, grenache and mataro (or mourvedre) – in response to new export markets - and by the 1860s and 1870s, the region was a patchworked landscape of vineyards across rich vivid chocolaty soils and rolling country. By the 1920s many of these vineyards were at the height of their productivity - and vignerons like Oscar Seppelt truly believed they were the foundation of a great wine industry in the Barossa. With the first World War now in the past the wine community was in a buoyant mood especially with the bumper 1921 vintage.But even in 1921 the grapes arrived at the gravity flow winery by horse and dray. Although mechanisation was slowly being introduced, the old ways – and old timers - were still employed. In fact - steam engines still ran the pully systems that ran the pumps and presses in the winery. People were everywhere working the crushers, heaving away at plunging the open fermenters. The heady smell of fermenting grape juice filled the air - although ventilated windows prevented a build-up of alcoholic stupor.Meanwhile in the sheds barrel makers banged away making up new oak casks and barrels or repairing them, and cellarmen clambered over the stacks of barrels topping up maturing wine. This place Seppeltsfield – an Empire of Wine- epitomised the ambitions of Australian vignerons during the 1920s. Seppeltsfield wines were sold in very State and massive volumes were sent to England in hogsheads to be sold as Australian Burgundy. But fortified wine was always a Seppeltsfield speciality. In 1878 the eccentric machine-loving Benno Seppelt - laid down his first barrel of vintage tawny, it was a puncheon actually, and it was not to be enjoyed until it had reached 100 years of age. It was a symbolic gesture of course and typical of this brilliant outward looking man. It was just one barrel among tens of thousands -something that could easily be lost and forgotten – as it turned out - by accountants or financial controllers for a century. But it was also something to prove to future generations that the Barossa was somewhere special. Joseph had first arrived to grow tobacco and make cigars, but the climate was not right. The Seppelt family planted wine grapes and encouraged new settlers – many of German origin - to do the same. And soon the fortiofied tawnies of Seppeltsfield were world famous – and Para – named after a creek - sometimes a river in the Barossa valley became synonymous with the finest wines of South Australia. The centennial collection of 100-year-old Para Vintage Tawnies offer an unbroken line of ambition and provenance. These tawnies are a liquid palimpsest of incredible beauty, density and complexity. I really love the story of these truly unique wines. This great old 1921 Para Vintage Tawny represents all things I love about Australian wine – resilience, generations of effort, technical brilliance and forward thinking as much as being one of the great wine experiences in the world. And for those lucky enough to leave home and visit theBarossa Valley in South Australia, Seppeltsfield offer an incredible array of tasting experiences and activities, including a tour of the Centennial Cellar and the opportunity to taste rare vintage tawnies and birth year vintages. You can also book for lunch or dinner at the brilliant Fino restaurant.

Photo courtesy of Leeuwin Estate, Margaret River Western Australia

Photo courtesy of Langmeil - Old Vines