Port perfection ‘tastes like caramel or condensed milk in tea’

James Halliday awarded the 1917 Seppeltsfield Para Centenary Tawny 100 points, the only wine to get his perfect score.

Chief winemaker Nigel Thiele pours a drop of the 1917 Seppeltsfield Para Centenary Tawny. Picture: James Elsby

For 100 years, the 1917 Seppeltsfield Para Centenary Tawny has sat in a single barrel, maturing into what winemaker Nigel Thiele ­describes as tasting like caramel or condensed milk in tea, with a hint of tastiness towards the end.

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have walked the 1878 Centennial Cellar in the hallowed halls of Seppeltsfield to try their birth years of 1948 and 1947 — which will not mature for another 30 years — and at $2000 for a 375ml centenary bottle, it must be worth the wait.

Wine critic James Halliday thinks it is, and has today awarded the 1917 vintage 100 points in The Weekend Australian Magazine. It is the only wine he has ever awarded the perfect score, marking the 11th year in a row for the Seppeltsfield Para Centenary 100 Year Old ­Vintage Tawny.

“It’s the ultimate endorsement for Benno Seppelt, because there would have been a great deal of sceptics in the industry and the community in 1878,” Mr Thiele said. “When you’re going to put down a 100-gallon barrel of port for 100 years, they’d be thinking he’s not all there. But it was his ­belief in the wine and winery that has proven him right.”

The Centenary release is a meal in itself — with a drop costing more than your average restaurant meal.

The different centenary vin­tages each have unique flavour profiles, he said, with anything from hints of dark chocolate to coffee, creme brulee or fruit cake.

It can almost be a sensory overload, as each vintage of the fine wine, which has a viscosity of ­engine oil, is unique.

“Some people ask are they all 10 out of 10 but they’re all absolutely stunning wines,” he said.

“Because they’re single-harvest vintages, they’ve maintained their individuality. You’ll have wine or vintages which were strong or weak and if you tasted all of them you’d come up with wines that are more challenging to the palate than others.”

Those who visit for a tasting of the current vintage, their birth year and other years of note, including the popular moon landing (1969), Gallipoli (1915) and the sinking of the Titanic (1912), are generally there to celebrate milestones, Mr Thiele said.

The tastings could also be overwhelming for some people, often evoking memories and a lifetime of experiences. “We had a 100-year-old man do his birth year tasting in 2015 — he was born in Port Lincoln in the year of Gallipoli. His name was Don, and to give a 100-year-old man a new ­experience and having a wine that matched the character of the man, that was a great story.”