Seppelt Commemoration Port (Oscar Benno Seppelt) 20%

Blended from selected reserves of – Barossa – Para liqueur 1933 to 1980.

Commemorating the 100th anniversary of OBS’s birth in 1873, this is one of the series (there was a large family) and I gather this bottle was released around 1990, as a “premium” release. Internet searches have not been illuminating!

It was unusually sealed with a normal cork (not a stopper) and has thrown a very heavy crust. It’s a recent auction purchase. After bottling, this tawny style will change very little, but certainly needs aeration after its extended time in bottle, and a very careful decant.

In the Seppelt Para house vein, the colour is a brilliant glowing amber with a khaki rim. Myriad flavours; coffee bean, vanilla bean, nuts (more almond than walnut, but both are present).

It seems relatively dry, a marvel of blending old material with fresher wines “selected by the directors”; savoury and delectable on a gloomy winter night. The inherent acidity makes another taste inevitable.

Drink now (but will not collapse); 90 points as a drink, more if history is valued.

Seppelt Commemoration Port (Leo Renato Seppelt) 21.5%

Blended from Para liqueur port vintages 1933 to 1972.

Not unexpectedly, there is little difference in colour, aromatics and flavours. This wine tastes slightly “brighter” with its fruit profile displaying some citrus peel nuances as well as those mentioned above, and perhaps the weightier mouthfeel of the marginally higher alcohol -but we are well into the realm of variation between individual bottles

This wine nudges up to a score of 92 points, with the key word “yum”.