Great Western is a sub-region of the Grampians wine region in Victoria, southeastern Australia. The historical area has been producing wine since the 1860s and is home to some of Australia's oldest wine estates. Shiraz is the region's key grape variety, making a more spiced, delicate red wine than those that come from South Australia to the west. Great Western is also the birthplace of the quintessentially Australian sparkling Shiraz wine.
The Grampians region lies in the western part of Victoria, in the shadow of the eponymous mountains. It was granted its GI (Geographical Indication) in 1997, a full 10 years before Great Western received its official GI. The sub-region is based around (and named for) a village at the northern end of the Grampians GI, a little way east of the base of the mountains. The Pyrenees and Bendigo regions lie to the east.
Altitude plays a small part in Great Western's terroir, as most vineyards lie between 800ft and 1800ft (245m to 550m) above sea level. This means that warm, sunny summer days in the vineyards are followed by cooler nights, with the influence of the Tasman sea some 90 miles (145km) away. The long autumns are excellent for ripening, developing flavor in the grapes without depleting acidity. This climate begets a more restrained, cool-climate style of wine that is more peppery and elegant than those from warmer areas.
Poor, free-draining soils are found in Great Western, albeit with some variations that range from clay to silt. These soils stress the vines slightly, which has the beneficial effect of reducing canopy growth as the vines conserve energy for grape production. High-quality grapes with a lowered water content make for concentrated wines.
Great Western is home to both Seppelt's Great Western winery to the south of the village and Best's Concongella Winery to the north. A long-running dispute over the rights to the name ran for decades between these two key Grampians wineries, and the result is a set of very specific stipulations on how the Great Western name may be used on wine labels. These conditions do not affect winemaking or viticultural techniques or procedures (as do the famous appellation laws of France), and are focused entirely on the font size, typeface and colors used for the Great Western name on wine labels. An extract from the legislation itself shows how much the GI's conditions relate to marketing law and how little they have to do with the wine itself: "The GI may only be used...in a font size no greater than fifty per cent (50%) of the average font size of the letters in the biggest word in the brand name" and "...the GI is of no greater font size, relative to the brand name...". The wording used is an almost perfect translation of that used in French wine labeling laws.
Shiraz accounts for a large proportion of the wines made under the Great Western name. However, a range of other cool-climate varieties thrive here, including Riesling, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon, examples of which tend toward the bell pepper rather than the blackcurrant.
