A small village which has become famous as the major centre in Australia for the production of sparkling wines.
Location: on the Western Highway between Ararat and Stawell, 220 km north-west of Melbourne
Origin of name: taken from the name of the first vineyard in the area.
Brief history: two Frenchmen, who met each other at the Daylesford diggings, set up vineyards in 1863 as the soil and climate reminded them of their native land. They were soon producing wines that won awards at international competitions. The Great Western vineyard was planted in 1865 by Joseph Best with cuttings from the Trouettes who had migrated from Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, north-eastern France in 1856, fellow vignerons in the area. Seppelt & Sons took over the best vineyards in the area in 1918 and has since developed them extensively.
Natural features: Green Hill Lake; Mt Buangor State Park; Fern Tree falls; Tuckers Hill; Black Range; Mount Boswell; Concongella Hill
Built features: Great Western cellars (tours available); Langi Morgala Folk Museum, Buangor Hotel, Store and Cobb & Co staging station at nearby historic village of Buangor.
Heritage features: restored cottages; historic tollgate; 'Shaft House', Seppelts Cellars; Seppelts champagne cellars - an intricate 3km long system of tunnels dug by gold miners in the 1860's & 70's; old portable jail in park.
Map of Pyrenees Area | Map of Pyrenees Wineries