Great Western, Victoria

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Great Western
state = vic


caption =
lga = Shire of Northern Grampians
postcode = 3377
est =
pop = 644 (2006)Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC25697 | name = Great Western (State Suburb) | accessdate = 2007-10-01 | quick = on]
elevation=
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Ripon
fedgov = Wannon
dist1 = 225
dir1 = north west
location1= Melbourne
dist2 = 111
dir2 = north west
location2= Ballarat
dist3 = 19
dir3 = north
location3= Ararat
dist4 = 16
dir4 = south east
location4= Stawell

Great Western is a town in the east of the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the Western Highway, in the Shire of Northern Grampians Local Government Area, 225 kilometres north west of the state capital, Melbourne. The town has a population of 644.

The first European settlers in the Great Western area were sheep graziers in the 1840s and closer settlement began with the discovery of gold during the Victorian gold rush, the Post Office opening on 1 June 1858. Citation
last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= | accessdate = 2008-04-11 ] . The first vineyards in the Great Western area were established by two Frenchmen who met at the gold diggings at Daylesford. Following their example, Joseph Best and his brother Henry established vineyards in 1865. Following Joseph's death in 1888, the property was purchased by Hans Irvine. Irvine imported staff from France and dedicated himself to establishing a sparkling wine of comparable quality of French champagne. In 1918, Irvine sold the winery to his friend and Australian wine pioneer, Benno Seppelt.cite web
url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/victoria/great-western/2005/02/17/1108500206488.html
title=Great Western - Victoria - Australia - Travel - smh.com.au
publisher=www.smh.com.au
accessdate=2008-05-19]

Today, Great Western is still producing quality sparkling wines including Seppelt Salinger at the Seppelt winery, now owned by the Foster's Group.cite web
url = http://www.seppelt.com.au/wines/salinger.html
title = Seppelt Salinger
publisher = Seppelts Wines
accessdate = 2007-05-31] cite web
url = http://www.fosters.com.au/enjoy/wine/seppelt.htm
title = Seppelt
publisher = Foster's Group
accessdate = 2007-05-31] The Seppelt cellars include over 3 kilometres of labyrinthine tunnels ("drives") originally constructed by miners searching for gold and are now used to allow the sparkling wine to rest and develop. The other major vineyard in the area is the Concongella vineyard, operated by Best's Wines, producing a wide variety of wine types.cite web
url = http://www.bestswines.com/main.htm
title = Best’s Concongella Vineyard, Great Western (Established 1866)
publisher = Best's Wines
accessdate = 2007-05-31] Table shiraz, including some from pre-phylloxera root stocks, is also produced by wineries in the area.cite web
url = http://www.seppelt.com.au/vineyards/greatwestern.html
title = Our Vineyards - Great Western, Victoria
publisher = Seppelts Wines
accessdate = 2007-05-31 ] The development of a water recycling program transferring waste water from nearby Ararat to wineries at Great Western has allowed recent expansion of the wine industry in the area.cite news
first = Pip
last = Courtney
title = Great Western turns water into wine
url = http://www.abc.net.au/landline/stories/s121839.htm
work = Landline
publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation
date = 2000-04-30
accessdate = 2007-05-31]

Other events in Great Western include a picnic race meeting and a rodeo, both held annually.

The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Horsham & District Football League.

References