Site 4: Outdoor Screw Press

If you turn back towards the Cellar Door, you’ll spot a fascinating piece of winemaking history – an historical Screw Press. This machine, believed to have been in use until the 1960s, marked a significant leap forward in winemaking technology when it was introduced.  Powered by a motorised belt pulley system which is still in the winery today, it was considered cutting-edge innovation for its time.

Before the Screw Press, the Jesuit winemakers relied on a handmade basket press, which could only process four buckets of grapes at a time – a slow and labor-intensive process. The screw press allowed for greater efficiency and capacity, revolutionizing the production process.

While technology has evolved, we honour this legacy by continuing to use a combination of modern bag presses and traditional basket presses to craft our wines, blending innovation with tradition to produce the quality you enjoy today.

Throughout Sevenhill’s history, there have been significant periods of technological innovation and advancement, perhaps none greater than during Brother George Downey’s tenure in the Post WW1 era from 1925 to 1952. During this time, Brother Downey recognised a greater commercial need, introducing table wines to the portfolio, as well as purchasing the winery a new destemmer, must pump, crusher, and imported wine filter.

He also managed a period of significant infrastructural improvements, including building a new boiler room, fermenting room and cask storage for large format wines (1925), which is now the entrance to the cellar door.