Wine company with properties in the Australian states of South Australia and Victoria. The foundation stone was laid by Joseph Ernest Seppelt (1813-1868), who immigrated from Silesia in 1849. After a brief attempt as a tobacco farmer in Adelaide, he founded the parent company in 1851 in the Barossa Valley (South Australia) under the name Seppeltfield Winery. At the beginning, the wines were produced in the dairy of his wife Johanna Charlotte. It was not until 1867 that the winery was built. After the early death of the founder, his eldest son Oscar Benno Pedro Seppelt (1845-1931) continued the business. Under his leadership, the vineyard estate increased to 227 hectares by 1875. In addition to viticulture, the breeding of sheep (which grazed in the vineyards in autumn) and pigs fed on the grape mash was carried out. A laboratory was built and a distillery was constructed and put into operation. By 1900, the estate covered over 600 hectares.
One of 16 children, his son Oscar Benno Seppelt (1873-1963) studied viticulture at Wien and returned to Australia in 1895. After his father retired from the business in 1916, he took over the running of the company. The business continued to expand enormously. In 1918, the purchase of a winery in the Grampians area (Great Western sub-area) took place. Seppelt bought the winery from his friend Hans Irvine, who had produced sparkling wine there. The vaults, which were more than three kilometres long, had been created during the search for gold and were ideally suited for the storage of sparkling wine. Today, this winery is called Seppelt Great Western.
Oscar Benno Seppelt was very innovative and strived to constantly improve production. For example, he designed and patented a tank for the pasteurisation of wine. He had no children. After his death, the business was taken over first by his brother Leo Seppelt and then by an adopted daughter. In 1984, the company B. Seppelt & Sons became the property of Southcorp, which was finally taken over by the beverage multinational Foster's in 2005. In May 2011, Foster's spun off all its wine activities into a separate listed company called Treasury Wine Estates, which now includes Seppelt.
Still and sparkling wines are produced from the GI areas of Barossa Valley (South Australia), Grampians (Victoria), Padthaway (South Australia) and Rutherglen (Victoria) under many brand names. The two top sparkling wines are marketed under "Drumborg" and "Salinger". Other sparkling wine brands are "Great Western", "Fleur de Lys" and "Queen Adelaide". Among the still wines, those from the Grampians area made from the Chardonnay, Sémillon and Shiraz grape varieties are among the premium wines. The Seppeltfield Winery produces fortified wines in the sherry and port styles.
