Murray Almond leads a group through a spectacular tasting of Seppelt Para Liqueur and Vintage Tawny Ports (including a Seppelt 1904 Para Vintage Tawny Port) . An excellent article for anyone who wants some background on Seppelt Ports.

The Barwon Wine & Food Society runs a Wine Masterclass each year as a change from the normal Dinner and Wine format. This is always a great event, not just because I run it. This year I chose a single theme for the night taking a look at the various styles of Seppelt Para Liqueur. The night was built around a bottle of the one-off Seppelt 1951 50yo Para that I had picked up last year and had waited until the cooler weather this year before running the event.

Before getting into the fortifieds we started with a sparkling wine.

Seppelt Late Disgorged M2 Sparkling Shiraz Millennium Release 1993
This is the one in the red box released for the millennial celebrations. Fine persistent bead with lovely aromas of plum blackberry and spice. Fantastic mouthfeel with great balance before a lingering finish. A fantastic wine, probably shading the 1993 Show Sparkling for quality. 95/100 Exceptional.

In planning the event I did some research on Seppelt and Para in particular to provide an overall background on the brand and the particular wines.

Seppelt Para Liqueur

The history of Seppelt Para Liqueur Port began in 1878 when Benno Seppelt selected a barrel of his finest port to be laid down for release 100 years later – a tradition carried on every year since and released as “Para 100 Year Old Liqueur Vintage Tawny”. Named after the Para River that flows through the centre of the Barossa Valley and instantly recognisable in its unique bottle.

In 1953 the first vintage dated “Para Liqueur Port”, the 1922, was released in its distinctly shaped bottle. In the mid 1970’s the Seppelt Para Liqueur numbered series replaced the vintage dated wine, and continues to provide consistent premium port.

Winemaker James Godfrey says that the fortified wines of Seppelt should be fresh with an elegance of style, purposely dryer than many other fortified wines, which allows the full flavours to develop in the wine.

The Para Liqueur Port Series

The first bracket was a grouping of the ‘standard’ Para that now carry series numbers, from the current 122, back to a 112.

Seppelt Para Liqueur is made from a blend of traditional Australian port grape varieties, principally Shiraz, Grenache and Mataro. These have been selected and blended to maintain the unique Para Liqueur style.

Each Seppelt Para Liqueur has a blended average age of 8 years and continues the tradition of quality and character long associated with Seppelt Para Liqueur. Component wines are aged individually in small and large oak casks at Seppeltsfield before a careful selection and blending process. The resulting blend is placed into the Solera system for maturation before release. The Series numbers don’t directly relate to an annual release, do provide a measure of how long the wine has been in the bottle.

Seppelt Para Liqueur Series 122
This is the latest release for the wine; priced around $21. The wine won a Trophy at the 2003 Brisbane Wine Show. A medium-pale, in the fortified context, nutty colour. The wine demonstrated fresh aromas with raisins with older characters showing. Medium weight palate with nice intensity of flavours and a good long finish. Highly enjoyable and good value drinking in the younger port style. 92/100 (Excellent)

Seppelt Para Liqueur Series 120
A wine with a bit more bottle age. Darker in colour, This was slightly dumb on the nose. Syrupy mouthfeel with a more aggressive palate structure showing more nutty character resulting from the bottle age. Enjoyable. 88/100 (Very Good)

Seppelt Para Liqueur Port Series 112
I think this would date from the early 90’s so had some degree of bottle age. If you have any of this age, be aware they do have a degree of sediment, so decanting is recommended. Demonstrably darker in colour than the other series wine. Spirity character becoming more obvious as the fruit characters recede. Rich full palate and a lovely lingering smooth finish. Delightful drinking. 93/100 (Excellent)

Seppelt Para Liqueur Port 1947
The 1947 Para was the last of the vintage dated Para wines. These wines were a multi-vintage blend as Para remains today although with an average age then of around 15 years. The change from the vintage dating to the series numbering was required due to the change in labelling requirements for wine that took place in the 1970’s. This wine would date from the mid- 70’s. I had a chat to James Godfrey about this wine and he said to be sure to decant it, as it throws a massive crust. He was right, the crust coated the bottle and the tailing after decanting was sludge-like. The wine was dark in colour. Balanced nutty character with aged characters showing through. Lovely old full-bodied intensity with a wonderful long finish. A fantastic wine which still can be picked up for a decent price at auction. 95/100 (Exceptional)

Seppelt Para Liqueur 21 Year Old Vintage Tawny
Seppelt say that the vintage dated Para made a nostalgic return in 1991 following in the tradition of quality for which Para is renowned, but with the added enticement of vintage variation. Now released at 21 years of age, the vintage dated Tawnies reflect the climatic and growing conditions leading up to the harvest; the expression of a year long gone, preserved for enjoyment. Being produced from a single vintage, the selection of fruit is critical to maintain the style and still allow for the expression of individual vintages to shine through. These wines are around 21% alcohol reflecting the extra concentration due to evaporation through the barrels.

Para Liqueur 21 Year Old Vintage Tawny 1981
This wine is sourced from Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley and is made from Shiraz and Grenache and spent 21 years in small wood. The lift in quality over the younger Para numbered Series wines was immediately obvious as the wine was tasted. Lifted nutty nose with fruit cake, liquorice and leather characters. The rich palate provides great intensity to the aromas while bringing in aged oak characters. Fantastic balance and finish. Lovely. 94/100 (Excellent)

Para Liqueur 21 Year Old Vintage Tawny 1983
This vintage was seriously affected by the 1982 drought, less by the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires and March flooding. Summer rainfall was a little more than half the average, and the grapes were able to achieve full maturity. This is blend of several reserve wines, all produced in 1983 and matured in old oak hogsheads for 21 years. The reserve wines were all aged separately to ensure only those components that had achieved the desired quality and style entered the final blend
Wow, what a wine. Rich sultanas, raisins, fruitcake, liquorice, plum and old oak aromas leap out of the glass. Rich full intensity without being overblown. Wonderful balance and a delightful lingering finish. Gorgeous. A bargain. 96/100 (Exceptional)

DP 90 Rare Barossa Valley Tawny

I decided to compare the Para style to another Port style from the House of Seppelt. Seppelt say the “Seppelt DP 90 Rare Tawny has reigned supreme on the Australian wine show circuit for over 30 years and as the most awarded wine of any style is rightfully regarded as the benchmark Australian Tawny. Fruit from extremely low yielding Barossa Valley vines is given extended maturation in small oak casks at Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley before careful blending to create a wine with incomparable levels of finesse, complexity and length. The wine is made from Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Mourvedre. It has extended maturation in small oak casks at Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley. And is a multi-vintage blend. The wine is a multi trophy and gold medal winner at National and state wine shows.”

The DP 90 had lifted aromas on the nose with a fragrant mix of young intensity through to aged elegance. Luscious full bodied mouthfeel with moccha and toffee. Fantastic length and breadth before a wonderful long finish. Justifiably acclaimed as one of the best fortifieds around. 97/100 (Exceptional)

Seppelt 50 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny 1951
This is a one-off wine with a nice bit of history, building on the tradition started with the 100year old Para. In 1951, the centenary year of Seppelt and the Jubilee year of Federation, Mr H M (Bill) Seppelt, at the time Production Manager and Chief Winemaker decided, as with the 100yo, to lay down additional stocks of the best tawny from that vintage and declared that it not be bottled until the year 2001 with the proceeds being donated to charity. The wine was aged in hogsheads (300L) for 50 years. Unlike the 100 year old which is aged in puncheons (500L), these smaller casks allow a faster accumulation of intensity and age. After 50 years this wine is similar in age intensity to the 100 year old wines. Unfortunately Mr Bill Seppelt passed away in 1998, however his son William Seppelt presented a cheque on behalf of his father to the Freeling Jubilee Committee.

I bought the wine last year when it was available at Cellar Door for around $250 per bottle, and designed the night around this wine. The aging process had seen the alcohol raise to 25%. My expectations were well-founded. Dark brown colour with yellowing on the edges. Intense fruit richness with multiple layers of flavours of prunes, toffee, raisins and aged spirit of incredible richness. Wonderful full mouthfeel reflecting the intensity of the aromas with lovely intensity with an incredibly long finish. An esteemed wine, and great value for the price. It had the flavour intensity of the 100yo with a bit of freshness of flavours. 99/100 (Perfect).

Seppelt 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny 1904

The scheduling of this Masterclass happened to coincide the Seppelt Trade Day where the 1904 was being poured. Nicholas Crampton and James Godfrey were good enough to decant a small amount for me so that I was able to give the attendees a taste of this treasure. The 100 Year Old Para tradition started in 1878 when Benno Seppelt selected a puncheon of his finest wine and gave instructions that it was not to be bottled for 100 years in celebration of the completion of the stone cellar at Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley. Seppelt is now the only winery in the world to have significant stocks of wine laid down in consecutive vintages over 100 years.

The 100 Year Old Para is a blend Mataro, Shiraz, Cabernet Franc, and Grenache and is vinified by hand in the Seppeltsfield winery. Aged in a 480-litre barrel at Seppeltsfield for 100 years. The wine is drawn from barrel, cold stabilised and bottled by hand upon order.

The wine was served in small sherry glasses, as it’s hard to get your tongue down to the bottom of an ISO glass to get at the dregs of the viscous wine. Incredibly intense nose of dark sultanas, toffees and raisins with spice, oak and chocolate with spirity overtones. The palate is intense with a small sip filling the mouth with layers of flavours. The balance is remarkable for such an intense wine. The finish lasts for days. A wine experience to treasure. 99/100 (Perfect)

A fantastic series of wines. The highlights for me were predictably the DP 90 and the unique experiences provided by the 50yo 1951 and the 100yo 1904, along with the great performance of the 21yo 1983 against far loftier comparison. The 1983 sits comfortably with its older siblings providing great intensity of flavour and a very modest price range.

Thanks to Seppelt for their assistance with information and the wine donation for the night.

Copyright © 2004 Murray Almond, All Rights Reserved

About this Article
This article was originally published in the WineStar Journal, reprinted with permission of the author.