Great Western is a town in the Wimmera region of Victoria, located 225 kilometres northwest of Melbourne. The town has a population of 650. The first European settlers in the Great Western area were sheep graziers in the 1840s, and further settlement began with the discovery of gold during the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s. Two Frenchmen established the first vineyards in the Great Western area, and following their example, Joseph Best and his brother Henry established vineyards in 1865.
Following Joseph Best'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 to French champagne. In 1918, Irvine sold the winery to his friend and Australian wine pioneer, Benno Seppelt.
Today, Great Western is the wine and food village of the Grampians. Wineries still produce quality sparkling wines, including Seppelt Salinger at the Seppelt winery. The Seppelt cellars include over three kilometres of tunnels 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 various wine types.