THE AUSTRALIAN ARK – Federation to the Modern Era | 1900–1982
cordials, and tonics. His father was the ingenious Benno Seppelt, who transformed the family business into an intercolonial wine company with vineyards and assets in the Barossa (Seppeltsfield and Château Tanunda), Coonawarra (Château Tanunda), and Great Western in Victoria. When TT Seppelt went to school at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, he was given the nickname Mick, probably a reference to his Roman Catholic background. He was the 13th child (out of 16) and enjoyed a distinguished career in the family business. Mick Seppelt’s son Mervyn Hilton Seppelt, known by everybody as Mr Bill, also joined the family company in 1936 after returning from studying winemaking practices at Montpellier in France. Soon after, ‘Bill’ Seppelt became head of winemaking and operations, where he played an important role in modernising wine production. Nearing retirement, Mick Seppelt envisioned semi-retirement at his grazing property at Dromana but was persuaded to attempt viticulture. He planted a small 2.5-acre plot of various grape varieties, including cabernet sauvignon and riesling, probably sourced from Seppelt’s vineyards at Great Western. The vineyard was fenced off to protect the vines from being destroyed by kangaroos and cattle, but after a promising first vintage, fortunes reversed, with increasing problems of bird damage and kangaroos wrecking the fence
After the failure of the 50-acre Passion Fruit plantation (and the Passiflora Fruit Juice Factory at Red Hill), the land at Dromana was cleared again for grazing. Around 1950 (1946, according to David Dunstan), the 100-acre property was purchased by Tuisko Tirso ‘TT’ Seppelt – the Victorian manager since 1917 and a director of the vast B Seppelt & Sons wine empire. This company was originally established in the Barossa Valley and was primarily involved in wine production but also made other drinks, including brandy, vermouths,
Penfolds Chief Winemaker Max Schubert in West Germany, 1950s. [Penfolds’ Collection]
306
Powered by FlippingBook