Join the Cellar Dwellers over winter

Winter is when Coonawarra comes out to party.

This July, Coonawarra's annual Cellar Dwellers celebration returns with a month-long program of rare museum wines, intimate cellar door experiences and a collection of fireside, after-dark and seasonal experiences designed to showcase the South Australian region.

Running throughout July, Cellar Dwellers invites visitors to slow down, rug up and experience a different side of Coonawarra, where crackling fires, hearty regional fare, warm hospitality and aged wines combine. 

From vertical tastings and museum wine releases to long-table dinners, stargazing beneath some of
Australia's clearest night skies, mulled wine by the fire and family-friendly experiences, the 2026 program offers more than 40 reasons to visit.

While Coonawarra is internationally recognised for producing classic cabernets, Cellar Dwellers celebrates the ageing potential of the region's full range of red and white wines. 

Coonawarra Vignerons events and marketing officer, Heidi Guyett, said Cellar Dwellers continues to evolve while remaining true to its original purpose - celebrating wines that reward patience.

"Cellar Dwellers has always been about championing wines from the cellar and inviting guests to experience and discover just how well Coonawarra’s wines age, when given the time," she said.

"This year we've expanded that concept with Winter Embrace - inviting guests not only to discover beautifully aged wines, but to immerse themselves in everything that makes winter in Coonawarra so memorable."

One of the program's signature events remains the Cellar Dwellers Back Vintage Tasting, returning to Parker Coonawarra Estate on Friday, July 17.

The walk-around tasting brings together a dozen Coonawarra producers under one roof, offering event attendees the opportunity to compare museum and back-vintage wines from across the region in a single evening.

“What makes this event so appealing is the diversity - it's not just about one wine variety or one winery," said Guyett. 

"You’ll experience the collective story of Coonawarra’s winemaking talent and the remarkable ageing potential of our wines, not limited to its reds. Plus, the warmth and hospitality of the region shine through in every conversation and every pour.”

Another of the events with potential to turn heads (skyward) this year is Constellations and Cluny presented by Zema Estate. 

The full program, event bookings and downloadable guide are available at: 
https://coonawarra.org/cellar-dwellers-2026/

Discover a special collection of aged wines

Calling all lovers of aged wines. 

All Saints Estate in north-east Victoria is set to offer some of its most precious back vintages from the Family Cellar this June, with its inaugural Museum Release. 

Registrations to purchase the Museum Release are now open on allsaintswine.com.au/museum.

The first edition of the Museum Release features 25 back vintages which can either be purchased individually or as part of a curated pack. 

Selected by winemaker Nick Brown, the wines have been selected based on their rarity and point of maturity. 

“Rutherglen is arguably Australia’s most historic wine region" Brown says. "Our family cellar reflects this history with old-vine wines cared for over the last three decades.

“Optimal storage conditions have allowed the wines to be perfectly aged, and wine enthusiasts will be able to enjoy these treasured vintages at their peak, without needing to cellar themselves. 

"We look forward to sharing this collection with those who are as passionate about wine as we are.”

The selection includes nine vintages of the Family Cellar (black label) range, including the 2004 All Saints Estate Family Cellar Shiraz and the 2007 All Saints Estate Family Cellar Marsanne; limited releases of Alias II (an unusual shiraz muscadelle blend) and Pierre, a Bordeaux-inspired blend named after the Brown’s late father, Peter. 

The curated packs (two, four or six bottles) showcase either variety or vintage; with Nick Brown selecting 2008 and 2013 as the best vintages from this collection.

The Family Cellar was launched by the Browns in 2003 to build a library for the next generation of wine connoisseurs. The wines have been aged in an architecturally designed and self-cooling underground cellar.

For more information, visit allsaintswine.com.au.

So you would like to taste a 100-year-old wine?

 

Seppeltsfield, one of the most famous names in the Australian wine industry, is today celebrating the unveiling of the new release of one of Australia’s most significant wines: the 1922 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny.

Seppeltsfield was established in the Barossa in 1851 by the Seppelt family and is one of the oldest wineries in Australia.

The new release coincides with the Seppelt family having moved into the homestead on February 20, 1851.

This will be the 45th consecutive 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny to be released from the 1878 Centennial Cellar – and cellar door visited are invited to sample the historic fortified; for a price. 

Chief winemaker Fiona Donald describes the 1922 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny as having "great intensity harnessed by citrusy acid and notes of sun dried stone fruit – nutty, spicy, with terrific length. A more savoury expression with focused lift and intensity of spicy walnut liqueur – woody, toasty, some herbal notes, too”.

The 1922 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny has limited availability in a 100ml format - hand filled to order, individually numbered and authenticated for collection purposes. It is presented in a Jarrah timber gift box with a certificate that can be personalised.

Available from Seppeltsfield cellar door or via Seppeltsfield.com.au with shipping possible worldwide.

The special fortified wine can also be tasted at the Seppeltsfield cellar door. 

The 100ml package costs $1,500, while a 10ml tasting at cellar door costs $90. 

So you enjoy your rieslings with a few years of age?

The Howard Park rieslings from West Australia are renowned for benefitting from a few years in the cellar. 

Good news for lazy wine lovers is that the Burch family - owners of Howard Park - are prepared to do the cellaring for you. 

Howard Park Wines has just unveiled the eighth riesling release in its Museum Series, re-releasing the 2014 Mount Barker Riesling.

The Mount Barker and Porongurup sub-regions of Western Australia’s Great Southern experienced warm to hot conditions throughout the entire vintage period but ocean breezes helped the vines. 

In the making of this wine, each vineyard block is vinified separately in stainless steel tanks. The free-run juice is racked before a long and cold fermentation to preserve character and fruit flavours. Blending occurs in June of the vintage year. 

In a nod to Howard Park's history, the label design for the 2014 Museum Release Riesling commemorates the inaugural 1986 Riesling with original artwork created by the late artist Denise Bowen, mother to now Howard Park Wines chief winemaker Nic Bowen.

The artwork draws inspiration from the Great Southern landscape with a colourful depiction of the Marri and Karri trees, which are unique to the region.

“A tasting of this wine seven years ago showed the wet slate notes that are so typical of the Great Southern region. Over time, the notes of lemon and lime have softened, giving way to secondary flavours such as praline and brioche,” said Howard Park Wines director of winemaking Janice McDonald. 

“As our Museum Series has shown in the past, it will continue to age, grow and evolve the longer that it’s cellared. It is a wine that sits beautifully amongst the line-up of museum releases and we’re proud to celebrate this release with Denise Bowen’s beautiful artwork.”

The Museum Series offers an opportunity to get a taste of rare back vintage wines without the difficulty of storing the wines for future enjoyment.

The Howard Park Museum Release Riesling 2014 (RRP $41) is now available to members of the Howard Park Wine Club before being released to the public in late 2021.

See www.howardparkwines.com.au