History

The underground cellars of Seppelt Wines in Great Western have a long and interesting history. In 1910, one of the underground cellars was named after one of the most famous Opera singers of the late Victorian era, Dame Nellie Melba. She visited Seppelt Wines in Great Western to officially open

John Murton was kind enough to share with us a bit about his family history and how they helped to shape Great Western into the town it is today. The Murton family were a prominent family here in Great Western with a rich and interesting history. William Arthur was born

Ian McKenzie played an integral role in the Seppelt property becoming one of the most well-known wineries to date. His own ‘Mckenzie Museum’ hidden beneath the earth and carved from the same stone as the Great Western cellars is an eternal tribute to his name and time on the property.

The mould which blackens the walls throughout the underground cellars known as ‘The Drives’ at Seppelt in Great Western is a harmless species known as Aspergillus Niger. Aspergillus Niger has been used for citric acid production for over 100 years and was discovered by Food Chemist James Currie. Citric acid

The Seppelt Great Western winery was founded in 1865 by Joseph Best, when he commissioned miners to tunnel underground cellars, known as the “Drives”   In 1888, following Joseph Best’s passing, Ballarat businessman Hans Irvine purchased Great Western. In 1890, Irvine hired Frenchman Charles Pierlot to produce the first methode

From very early gold mining days, the little village of Great Western has had an extensive association with hotels and wineries. Even though Great Western is known as the wine village, evidence exists in the newspapers that date as far back as 1868, that 23 hotels have existed in Great

The amazing volunteers at the Stawell Historical Society have stumbled across a very interesting article, dated the 7th July 1904 that was published in the Stawell News. This amazing piece of history explain that Great Western may have been renamed to 'Irvine"Mr. Hans Irvine first arrived in Great Western