Seppelt Great Western

The original Great Western estate was founded in 1865 by Joseph Best, an English-born settler who arrived in the Grampians foothills of Western Victoria during the gold rush era and established a vineyard along Concongella Creek. Joseph Best planted Shiraz and other varieties alongside his brother Henry Best, who founded the adjacent Best's Wines in 1866. The Joseph Best operation grew through the late 19th century, with the estate becoming notable for its sparkling wine production after French winemaker Charles Pierlot introduced methode champenoise techniques. Seppelt, the South Australian wine and fortified house founded by Joseph Seppelt in the 1850s, acquired the Great Western estate in 1918 and integrated it into the broader Seppelt business. The acquisition gave Seppelt access to the established Great Western vineyards, the early sparkling cellar facilities, and the methode traditionnelle expertise developed under Pierlot, providing the foundation for what became Australia's largest and most influential sparkling wine business through the 20th century.

• Original Great Western estate founded 1865 by Joseph Best, brother of Henry Best who founded Best's Wines in 1866
• French winemaker Charles Pierlot introduced methode champenoise techniques in the late 19th century, establishing the sparkling programme
• Seppelt acquired the Great Western estate in 1918 and integrated it into the broader Seppelt wine business
• Acquisition provided Seppelt with established sparkling expertise and the foundation for Australia's most influential 20th-century sparkling business

The Drives are Seppelt Great Western's most significant historical and viticultural feature, an underground cellar network hand-cut into the bedrock beneath the estate during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by miners brought in from the Victorian goldfields. The tunnels extend for more than three kilometres beneath the estate, providing naturally cool and stable temperature conditions ideal for the slow secondary fermentation and extended lees ageing that methode traditionnelle sparkling wine requires. The Drives became Australia's first major commercial methode traditionnelle sparkling facility, supporting Seppelt's expansion of the style across the early 20th century, and remain in use today for both production and heritage tourism. The cellars house traditional pupitre riddling racks alongside modern gyropalette equipment, and visitor tours through the Drives have made Seppelt Great Western one of Western Victoria's premier wine tourism destinations.

• Drives extend for more than 3 kilometres beneath the estate; hand-cut into bedrock by miners brought in from the Victorian goldfields
• Underground tunnels provide naturally cool and stable temperature conditions ideal for slow secondary fermentation and extended lees ageing
• Australia's first major commercial methode traditionnelle sparkling facility; supporting the style's expansion across the early 20th century
• Drives remain in use today for production and heritage tourism; combination of traditional pupitre racks and modern gyropalette equipment

Seppelt Great Western pioneered the uniquely Australian Sparkling Shiraz style in the early 20th century, developing a methode traditionnelle approach where dry Shiraz still wine undergoes a secondary fermentation under cork or crown seal in bottle, producing a dry to off-dry sparkling red wine with the autolytic complexity of bottle-fermented bubble and the depth of mature Shiraz. The style has no significant equivalent in international wine production and represents one of Australia's most distinctive contributions to global sparkling wine. Seppelt's Show Sparkling Shiraz, the estate's flagship Sparkling Shiraz line, is aged for extended periods on lees in the Drives and has earned consistent national and international show recognition over decades. The Sparkling Shiraz tradition originating at Great Western has spread to other Australian producers including Best's Great Western, Charles Melton, Rockford, and various producers across South Australia, but Seppelt remains the historical and stylistic reference point for the category.

• Seppelt Great Western pioneered the uniquely Australian Sparkling Shiraz style in the early 20th century
• Methode traditionnelle approach: dry Shiraz still wine undergoes secondary fermentation in bottle, producing dry to off-dry sparkling red
• Show Sparkling Shiraz: flagship Sparkling Shiraz line aged for extended periods on lees in the Drives; consistent national and international show recognition
• Sparkling Shiraz tradition has spread to other Australian producers; Seppelt remains the historical and stylistic reference point

Salinger is Seppelt's premium methode traditionnelle Chardonnay-Pinot Noir cuvee, named after Karl Seppelt's son-in-law Otto Salinger and established as the estate's flagship classical-style sparkling wine alongside the Show Sparkling Shiraz. The Salinger cuvees source cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Grampians and other cool-climate Victorian sites, undergoing extended lees ageing in the Drives before disgorgement. Salinger competes in the Australian premium methode traditionnelle category alongside Tasmanian sparkling producers and other Victorian houses. On the still wine side, the estate produces the St Peters Vineyard Shiraz, a flagship single-vineyard expression from historic Shiraz blocks within the Great Western property, alongside a broader range of Shiraz and other varietals under the Seppelt Great Western label. The estate's still wine programme operates alongside the sparkling programme rather than competing with it, with both contributing to the heritage identity of the property.

• Salinger: premium methode traditionnelle Chardonnay-Pinot Noir cuvee named after Karl Seppelt's son-in-law Otto Salinger
• Salinger sources cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Grampians and other cool-climate Victorian sites; extended lees ageing in the Drives
• St Peters Vineyard Shiraz: flagship single-vineyard still Shiraz from historic blocks within the Great Western property
• Still wine programme operates alongside sparkling programme; both contribute to the heritage identity of the estate

Seppelt Great Western operates today under Treasury Wine Estates ownership, integrated into the broader portfolio that includes Penfolds, Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Wolf Blass, and other prominent Australian wine brands. Treasury has preserved the heritage character of the Great Western estate while continuing modern production at the site, with the Drives still functioning as a working sparkling cellar alongside their role as a heritage tourism attraction. The estate is preserved as a significant Australian wine heritage property, with visitor tours through the Drives forming one of Western Victoria's premier wine tourism experiences. The Salinger, Show Sparkling Shiraz, St Peters Vineyard Shiraz, and broader Seppelt Great Western lines continue under Treasury ownership, maintaining the production traditions established under the Seppelt family era while expanding distribution and international visibility. The combination of working heritage cellar, preserved Drives, and multi-tier wine programme makes Seppelt Great Western unusual in Australian wine: both a functional producer and a living monument to the country's sparkling wine origins.

• Treasury Wine Estates current ownership; integrated alongside Penfolds, Wynns, Wolf Blass, and other major Australian wine brands
• Drives still function as a working sparkling cellar alongside their heritage tourism role
• Preserved as a significant Australian wine heritage property; visitor tours through the Drives form a premier Western Victoria tourism experience
• Combination of working heritage cellar, preserved Drives, and multi-tier wine programme is unique in Australian wine