Site 1: Cellar Door

As you enter the Cellar Door, you will notice the large format barrels, each holding three to five thousand litres of wine. This stock is precious to Sevenhill, representing its origins from 1851.

After Father Kranewitter purchased the property, then known as ‘Open Range’, or ‘Open Ranges’ in late January of 1851, in September of the same year Brother Johannes Schreiner walked 12 miles to and from Bungaree Station with a wheelbarrow to obtain vine cuttings to plant on the Sevenhill property. This planting of these vines is considered the establishment date of Sevenhill Cellars.

These vines were planted with a specific purpose – to make wines the celebration of the sacrament of Holy Communion [known as Mass or Eucharist].

Today, these vats you see are still used in the production of both sweet red and sweet white sacramental wine, made in accordance with the requirements of church Canon Law and approved and authorized for production and sale by the Archbishop of Adelaide.  We remain the only winery in Australia to produce altar wines.

As you climb the steps and enter the cellar door, take particular notice of the extensive slate used to build this cellar back in the 1850s. This slate was excavated from directly below where you now stand for two purposes:

1. to have an underground cellar to keep wines temperate; and
2. to build a cellar for the production of wine.

It wasn’t until the mid to late 20th century that this building was converted into a tasting room.

Inside the cellar door, you will see on your left a painted portrait of Br. John May SJ. He was the last of the seven Jesuit winemakers, and spent 47 years here at Sevenhill. It would be fair to say that without his passion and industry, the winery, as a Jesuit enterprise, may well not have continued to today.

As you walk through the cellar door, and move through the northern doors into our museum room, you will notice some signage boards here with additional information on the various Jesuit missions.

Take some time to have a look through the museum items, including some long spears, photos of the seven Jesuit winemakers, maps of the route taken by Father Pallhuber north into Indigenous communities, a wooden basket press, and some historic winemaking equipment. Take your time contemplating these items and reading more information on each of them, and if you are in the mood for a tasting, let our staff know! You can finish the walk here as well.