Winery & Vintage Info
Dr Peter McMahon planted the first vines at Seville Estate in 1972, it marked the rebirth of the Yarra Valley as a premium wine region.
By the end of the decade, Dr McMahon and his wife Margaret, were producing wines that served to restore the well-established reputation the Yarra had enjoyed in the 19th century.
Surprisingly in a region more renowned for its red wines produced from Cabernet and Pinot Noir, it was the Seville Estate Shiraz that received the most attention, quickly becoming one of Victoria’s most sought after wines.
Peter and Margaret’s grandson, Dylan McMahon joined Seville Estate in 2000, and became the chief winemaker in 2004, following the passion ignited a generation before. Dylan was on track to become an electrical engineer until he decided to follow his destiny and make wine.
Peter McMahon has undoubtedly been a notable influence on Dylan’s chosen career. “My grandfather retired in 1996. I’ve learnt from him that while concentration is important in wine, elegance and finesse is the key to our wine.”
2021 was a perfect growing season, mild temperatures with average rainfall produced good yields with balanced flavours across all varieties.
Average rainfall and temperatures over winter set the season up nicely with ground moister. This continued into Spring but much warmer than average temperatures prompted an early start to the growing season. Perfect conditions over flowering lead to good yields across all varieties which was welcomed after the small production in 2020. Unfortunately, a couple of our older blocks didn’t fully recover from the previous year, so we saw some reduction still, but happy overall. Spring continued to be warm with good rainfall through into summer, December and February were dry, but January saw several wet days, some over 40mm. The mild conditions pushed the start of harvest into early March, which is preferable over the hotter day time temperatures in February.
Pinot Noirs were more delicate and perfumed but still retailed their intensity and tannins which gives them great structure and presence. They remind us of some of the great cooler vintages where the balance of tannin, fruit and aromatics were perfect.
Fruit is hand handpicked and sorted in the vineyard. A combination of de-stemmed ferments and 100% whole bunch ferments are used. Must is cold soaked for 4 days then natural fermentation occurs with no temperature control. Malolactic fermentation occurs during primary. Open ferments are pumped over daily. Wine is gently pressed off skins and run straight to French oak for barrel maturation on lees in 30% new oak (300 & 500L) barrels. Wine is not filtered or finned but allowed to clarify naturally in the cellar prior to bottling. This minimal handling maximisers delicate “Pinot character” flavours.
This wine sees the first introduction of different clones, Pommard and Abel. While these wines have not supplied much to the volume of the blend, we see a great future in how they contribute to the flavour and structure of the wine. We look forward to seeing the volumes increase as the block matures and contribute more to the overall structure of the final wine.
