More port styled wines from Penfolds and Seppelt By Darryl Beeson, Cellar Master   Previously, I proposed Australian port styled wines as a value priced way to find warmth, perhaps saving on outrageous home heating bills.  Two other sources would be Penfolds and Seppelt. Penfolds, one of the first names that comes to mind when you think about world-class Australian wine, was founded by a young English doctor who migrated to one of his country's most distant colonies a century and a half ago. He studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, where he almost certainly met Dr. Henry John Lindeman, who was his exact contemporary and trained in the same hospital at about the same time. Like many doctors before and since, Dr. Penfold had a firm belief in the medicinal value of wine. Dr. Penfold built up his medical practice and made fortified wines - port and sherry - for his patients. As the demand for his wine grew he expanded the vineyards and increased production. At some stage in the 1850's, wine took over from medicine as the family's chief source of income. Penfolds Club Port is the largest selling Australian fortified wine. Made from a blend of tawny port vintages, the wine was matured in oak hogsheads in Kalimna Vineyard facilities in the Barossa Valley. Club Port's consistent quality and easy-drinking style has secured its place as an institution among Australian wine-lovers. The $12 price didn't hurt. "Club Port is rich mahogany in color," says wine maker Ian McKenzie, "the lifted bouquet displays integration of old oak, rich developed fruit and a hint of brandy spirit. The palate is rich and well-developed, with full-bodied lingering flavors the result of balanced mature, spicy fruit, oak, and brandy spirit." The Seppelt family settled in the Barossa Valley in 1851, and purchased the property now known as Seppeltsfield. Then, in 1878 when their magnificent Seppeltsfield port store was completed, Benno Seppelt selected a puncheon (a 500-litre barrel) of his finest port wine from that vintage and laid it in the new storage maturation cellar, starting a tradition that has continued annually. As a result Seppelt is the only known company in the world to have significant stocks of consecutive tawny ports in barrels dating back over 100 years. No other winemaker in Australia can boast such a collection of fine old fortified wine stocks dating back to last century. At present, Seppeltsfield has more than 9 million liters of fortified wine maturing in specially built cellars, some dating back to 1878.  The facility looks almost like a Hollywood movie set complex from the 1920's, a series of large buildings connected by rows of palm trees. The Seppelt Trafford Barossa Valley Tawny Port is made from Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro grapes from vineyards located in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. The price is a mere $12. Established in 1851, the Seppeltsfield Winery has a long and proud history as one of Australia's leading wine companies. At Seppeltsfield, the strength of Seppelt winemaking expertise, viticultural knowledge and technical experience has led to a great fortified wine tradition. The Cellars have 18,000 small oak casks of fortified wines, including some of the oldest and best in Australia. "This classic wine is tawny in color tending to olive green at the edges," says McKenzie, "the bouquet shows elegant fruit and attractive rancio character. On the palate, the wine is rich and complex in flavor with a lingering brandy finish. A wine of great style, the complex flavor characteristics of Seppelt Trafford are enhanced by the component of older wine in the blend." --- Darryl Beeson, presently cellar master of Voltaire restaurant in Dallas, travels the world looking for great wine values. He has been recognized in recent months by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Smart Money Magazine, and InStyle Magazine for his insights on wine. For more great wine suggestions, click here Darryl Beeson, presently cellar master of Voltaire restaurant in Dallas, travels the world looking for great wine values. He has been recognized in recent months by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Smart Money Magazine, and InStyle Magazine for his insights on wine. Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions? Email: jwdineline@aol.com Copyright © 1998 Inter Active Media Solutions. All Rights Reserved. The interactive components of this site require that you use a current browser version of Explorer; be sure to maximize your window out so you can see the entire page. This page was created by Inter Active Media Solutions.