Lamenting the loss of greatness.
TWE is the black hole of Australian wine. A gaping vastness that swallows iconic vineyards and wineries with a glacial determination. Three of Australia’s most famous and historical labels have been consumed by this profit-making machine. Their history dismantled, their wines restructured into price brackets. All for export markets.
To be fair, the three labels I lament the most were already lost in the Southcorp buy up in 1994. I would argue, however, that under Sothcorp they kept some of their history, price integrity, and dignity. Their wines remain true to their history and the winemaking teams seemed to have some autonomy in regards to what fruit went where.
Penfolds, Wynns, and Seppelt are a shadow of what they once were. Though they have taken vastly different directions.
Wynns of the three have remained the most unchanged. Coonawarra Cabernet seems to have deep roots that resist change. Maybe it is unfashionable, but the labels have kept their integrity and the pricing has hardly changed outside of normal inflation. The iconic Wynns Black Label can still be purchased for under $30AUS and will still cellar for decades.
Penfolds, on the other hand, is a shadow of its former self. Grange remains Australia’s most famous wine, and you could argue it justifies its hefty price tag. In the past, however, was a well structured Bin series that offered amazing value for staggeringly good wine. Below that sat the Koonunga Hill, an inexpensive wine that consistently delivered.
Now it is a shamble of overpriced restructured wines that have lost all their history. The Bin 389, once the affordable little brother of Grange is now over $100AUS. The other Bins, 407 and 28 are at the same price point where previously they were under $30AUS. The stunning St Henri, once a luxury at $50AUS has strangely been slotted at the same price point as the Bins. The 707 Cabernet, stunning value a decade ago for $150AUS, now four times the price.
All for the Chinese and now the US market.
The biggest loss in all these changes has been Seppelt. A few decades ago Seppelt deservedly sat alongside Penfolds as one of Australia’s most historic wineries. Its Great western Shiraz and Riesling were among the best examples in the country. St Peters Shiraz was stunning, as was the Chalambar. The sale of vineyards, the attempted sale of the winery and the amazing ‘Drives’ cellar has shone a light on TWE simply having no interest in the label. It is dying a slow, embarrassing death.
I have always been a fan of the flagship Shiraz from Seppelt, the St Peters. The fruit is sourced from old vines grown in the hot central Victorian Grampians and Great West. Concentrated and ripe, it cellars for decades, outside of Best’s, this is one of the purest expressions of warm climate Victorian Shiraz.
Seppelt introduced the Benno, from the Seppelt Bendigo vineyards, to sit alongside St Peters in 2003. I tasted it a tradeshow, it was distinct from the St Peters, yet its peer in quality. I started buying the Benno with St Peters each year. It was a short-lived venture. Fosters was bleeding billions leading into the 2011 breakaway of TWE. The slashing was happening everywhere, but Seppelet was the hardest hit. The Benno did not last a decade.
I have not purchased a TWE wine for a decade. I romanticise wine, from the vineyard to the winery to the bottle, it is an artesian affair. Every bottle is a time capsule of time and place. I have no time for corporations with their only interest in profit. TWE has genericised three of the greatest wineries in Australia, and it is their shame.
We drank the first Benno I purchased last, in August 2015.
Dark garnet in the glass. The nose is showing signs of development, black currant fruit still dominates, but there are olives, sweet spices, and chocolate sitting in the background. There is heat from pepper as well, the alcohol is apparent, but not overwhelming. On the palate, the wine is medium, with fine tannins. Surprisingly gentle after the fairly intense nose. The fruit is faded and there is a developed leather and cedar note, with a soft textured mouthfeel. It is a little further along than I expected, probably close to its best. A fine example of warm climate Victorian Shiraz. A shame the label no longer exists.
Drink Now – 2020.
92 pts.
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| The Seppelt ‘Drives’ |