Seville Estate Wines
Sewn, Estate and Reserve ranges. The Dr McMahon shiraz is a single wine
dedicated to the original owner Peter McMahon.
“Our philosophy at Seville Estate is to capture the fruit expression of this unique vineyard, in wine styles that show cool climate complexity and finesse”
Dylan McMahon, Winemaker
Winemaking
Seville Estate wines are made with minimum intervention, with the varietal and site expression in mind. Winemaking techniques are delicate and labour-intensive based around showcasing the true fruit characters, not artefact. All our Estate wines are fermented using indigenous yeasts.
Our Chardonnay (including the Blanc de Blancs) and Riesling are barrel-fermented. Varying amounts of new oak (Estate and Reserve Chardonnay only), percentage of solids and larger oak formats are used across the wines depending on the style and vintage. The wines are treated oxidatively pre and during fermentation to ensure a healthy fermentation. After fermentation the wines are sulphured and kept in a reductive environment. Malo Lactic Fermentation is not encouraged.
For our red wines, a broader amount of techniques is used depending on the varietal and vintage conditions. Although, most wines are generally cold soaked before fermentation, using differing percentages of whole bunch and pumped over. The wines are then delicately pressed off and run to barrel, matured for 1 year and bottled without finning or filtration. Our Pinot and Cabernet see a small percentage of new oak, and the Shiraz uses only older 500lt puncheons. All coopers are judiciously chosen so the oak characters are well integrated without dominating the fruit or the tannins of the wine.
Winemaker, Dylan McMahon
Dylan McMahon was on track to become an electronic engineer until he decided to follow his destiny and make wine. His grandfather Dr Peter McMahon planted the first vines at Seville Estate in Victoria’s Yarra Valley in 1972.
Dylan spent his first years working under the direction from previous winemakers Alistair Butt and Iain Riggs at Seville Estate and Brokenwood. Dylan feels fortunate to have travelled in his early career working vintages at Hugel & Fils (2002), Domaine Paul Blanck (2003) and Jean Claude Boisset (2008) in Burgundy.
Graduated from Charles Sturt Uni in Wagga with a bachelor of Wine Science in 2008. Dylan took over as winemaker in 2004 and continues the wine styles that Dr McMahon believed in. Seville Estate has since won extensive trophies and medals and maintains a red five star rating through James Halliday wine companion.
Dylan regularly judges at Wine Shows around the country which is crucial to continuing his knowledge and skills in the industry. He also sits on local industry based committees contributing his time to help improve and develop Yarra Valley wines.
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.”
Viticulture
Vineyard Manager, Chris Beard
After a stint in retail selling international fine wine, both locally and abroad, Chris decided it was time to see wine from a production perspective. Working with both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in South Gippsland and then a move to the Yarra Valley which saw him in flexible roles, both in the vineyard and winery. Whilst working for two of the most iconic and storied boutique wineries in Australia, Chris was able to learn first-hand the detail and commitment that is required to consistently produce wines at the top level.
Chris believes Seville Estate is one of the great sites in the Yarra and is dedicated to bringing an even greater level of detail to the vineyard. He believes that great viticulture comes from the power of observation and the ability to identify key differences in vine behaviour across the property. These variations across the vineyard lead to parcels of fruit with different characteristics and ultimately wines of greater complexity and interest. Chris is passionate about increasing biodiversity in the vineyard and growing companion plants that benefit the whole vineyard ecosystem and is suspicious of any vineyard that looks like a golf course!
He’s a huge fan of Syrah from the northern Rhone and thinks you should probably give quality barrel ferment Sauvignon Blanc another go.
