Great Western, Victoria

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox Australian place

| type = town

| name = Great Western

| state = vic

| image = Great Western Western Highway.JPG

| caption = The Western Highway at Great Western

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| use_lga_map = yes

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| coordinates = {{coord|37|09|0|S|142|51|0|E|display=inline,title}}

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| pop = 425

| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}}

| pop_footnotes = {{Census 2021 AUS | id = SAL21098 | name = Great Western (Suburbs and Localities) | accessdate = 2022-11-14 | quick = on}}

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| postcode = 3377

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| 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

| lga = Shire of Northern Grampians

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| stategov = Ripon

| fedgov = Wannon

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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 425.

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.{{Cite web | last = Phoenix Auctions History | title = Post Office List | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Great*Western* | access-date = 20 February 2021 }}

. 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 news

|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

|access-date=2008-05-19

|date=2004-02-08

}} For decades Seppelt's "Great Western" and Penfolds' "Minchinbury" were strong contenders for Australia's premier Champagne-style sparkling wine.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122108489 |title=Champagne full of surprises and industry take-overs |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=62 |issue=19,006 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=18 October 1987 |access-date=18 February 2024 |page=24 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Today, Great Western is the wine and food village of the Grampians. Wineries are still producing quality sparkling wines including Seppelt Salinger at the Seppelt winery, now owned by Treasury Wine Estates.{{cite web

| url = http://www.seppelt.com.au/wines/salinger.html

| title = Seppelt Salinger

| publisher = Seppelts Wines

| access-date = 2007-05-31

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070722111218/http://www.seppelt.com.au/wines/salinger.html

| archive-date = 22 July 2007

| url-status = dead

}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.treasurywineestates.com

|title=Seppelt

|publisher=Foster's Group

|access-date=2007-05-31

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828224149/http://fosters.com.au/enjoy/wine/seppelt.htm

|archive-date=2007-08-28

|url-status=dead

}} The Ahchow Family have been custodians of the Seppelt Great Western estate since 2016. The Seppelt cellars include over 3 kilometres of labyrinthine tunnels ("drives") originally constructed by out of work gold miners. The underground cellars were used to allow the sparkling wine to rest and develop. Sparkling Shiraz was first made at the now Seppelt site in Great Western. 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

|access-date=2007-05-31

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303112505/http://www.bestswines.com/main.htm

|archive-date=2007-03-03

|url-status=dead

}} 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

| access-date = 2007-05-31

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070829115700/http://seppelt.com.au/vineyards/greatwestern.html

| archive-date = 29 August 2007

| url-status = dead

}} 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

| author-link = Pip 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

| access-date = 2007-05-31

}}

The horse racing club, the Wimmera Racing Club, holds the Great Western Cup meeting on Australia Day (26 January),{{Cite web|last=Country Racing Victoria |title=Wimmera Racing at Great Western |url=http://www.countryracing.com.au/index.php?option=com_club_info&club=78&Itemid=80 |access-date=2009-05-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803131206/http://countryracing.com.au/index.php?option=com_club_info&club=78&Itemid=80 |archive-date=August 3, 2008 }} and a rodeo is also held annually.

The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Mininera & District Football League.[http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/west-and-fairest-lions-roar-20120324-1vrcy.html West and fairest Lions roar] The Age 25 March 2012