Seppeltsfield 1925 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny

"The 100 Year Old Paras have no parallel anywhere else in the world and the conjunction of 100 years of devoted stewardship (think former cellarmaster James Godfrey) and have had an outcome that can never, ever, be duplicated." James Halliday

We are immensely proud to partner Seppeltsfield as their exclusive UK partner – it is such an honour to be able to share these magnificent and historical wines with you…

Seppeltsfield has long been internationally renowned for its treasure trove of fortifieds highlighted by the Centennial Collection – the world’s only unbroken lineage of single vintage Tawny dating back to 1878, spanning 148 consecutive vintages. The Centennial Cellar was built in 1878 by Oscar ‘Benno’ Seppelt. In a gesture both unique and inspirational, Benno selected a puncheon of his finest wine and gave instructions that it was not to be bottled for 100 years. The Centennial Cellar is a living museum of Australian winemaking history and undoubtedly is the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Seppeltsfield Estate.

We are beyond thrilled to unveil the 1925 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny, the 48th consecutive release from the Centennial Cellar.

The 1925 Seppeltsfield 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny is a taste of the past through the prism of the present. Through a 100-years of maturation, evaporation, temperature oscillations and changes in atmospheric pressure, the wine has evolved and transmogrified into a rare elixir. By virtue of history it straddles modernity, the world in conflagration, advances in technology and profound changes to Australian life. The transcendent 1925, 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny is a living wonder of the wine world and a rare ethereal experience for those who have the luck to taste it.

Drawn from a single vintage and matured in oak for 100 years before release, Seppeltsfield’s 1925 Para Vintage Tawny is part of an unbroken lineage unmatched in the world of fortified wine. Bottled direct from barrel at its centenary, it offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a century of barrel age in its purest, perfect form.

Critical acclaim…

How can I begin to score a wine this good?

Nick "As a wine writer, I work hard to give the most accurate and objective scores I can. Then along comes a wine which is simply one of the most remarkable liquids you’ll ever put in your mouth."

Points - All of them! Nick Ryan “It’s the physicality of the wine you notice first. It’s as dark as sump oil at its core, easing out to a rich olive green at its rims. And then you attempt to swirl it. There are continents that move more rapidly than these old tawnies flow from the glass. They grip the surface of a glass like a potter’s glaze and no wine on Earth has more of its production sucked off an index finger than one of these. Get your nose near the glass and you topple through time. Walnuts soaked in brandy, star anise and cloves, cassia bark and panforte, coffee grounds and dried mandarin peel. The lingering scent of waxy oilskin. It doesn’t so much hit the palate as detonate upon it, pushing complex flavour to untouched corners and staying around longer than an adult child saving for a house deposit. One of the wine world’s greatest experiences”.

100 points, Dave Brookes - James Halliday's Wine Companion “In 1925, New York overtook London to become the largest city in the world, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler's influence was rising, F. Scott Fitzgerald released The Great Gatsby, the Jazz Age was in full swing, and this was tucked away in barrel. That never ceases to blow my mind. It's a singularity of aroma and flavour. Dried fruits in an aqueous solution, candied nuts, mahogany, molasses, marzipan, fancy cigar lounge, espresso liqueur, candied figs and prunes, wood spice and citrus rind. It's in constant movement; light filters in and out, highlighting certain characters, casting shadow on others, in an ever-moving state of change. It's kinetic and endlessly complex and there ain't nothing else like it in the world. It really is a national treasure. Drink 2025-2055”.

100 points, Andrew Caillard MW “Deep colour. Intense lifted ground coffee, praline, panforte aromas with smoky, liquorice, aniseed, cloves notes. Generously concentrated, dense and richly flavoured with fresh espresso, dark chocolate, orange rind, sandalwood cloves notes, fine supple textures, superb mid-palate volume/ viscosity and a persistent pure aniseed cut. Finishes smoky and long with apricot, panforte notes. A wonderful expression of Australian wine history and ambition. A living curio to share”.

20/20 points, Matthew Jukes “It’s always fun looking back through the archives to discover what happened one hundred years ago.  My favourite 1925 fact was that John Logie Baird successfully transmitted the first television pictures with a greyscale image in London. Less tasteful but no less interesting, Adolf Hitler published his book Mein Kampf.  These two occurrences certainly make the intervening century feel like a long time ago.  And so, tasting a wine with this age already under its belt and, on this tasting another century to go with apparent ease, makes it both humbling and monumental in equal measure.  Tiny bottles of this elixir are hand-filled and dressed to satiate the curiosity of the world’s most ardent collectors.  I usually write tasting notes about wines, but in this instance mere a jumble of words including perfumes and flavours, no matter how grand and improbable would not scratch the surface of this wine’s complexity and greatness.  So, I have two images for you to consider.  They appeared, unushered, into my mind as I tasted this wine and would usually pick one, but I like both, so here they are.  Drinking 1925 Seppeltsfield Para Vintage Tawny is akin to J. R. R. Tolkien’s entire cannon of Hobbit and Lord of the Rings masterpieces in just one flavour.  It also tastes like RMS Titanic has collided into my palate, instead of an iceberg, and become wedged.  I am certain this stupendous wine will outlive us all, and the planet, too, so do all you can to taste a sip.  It feels life changing.  Well, it certainly does to me”

The Centennial Collection is available in 100ml bottles, individually numbered and authenticated for collection purposes, with signatures from both the Seppeltsfield Executive Chairman and Proprietor – Warren Randall and Great, Great Grandson of Joseph and Johanna Seppelt – Bill Seppelt. Each bottle is presented in a black wooden gift box…