Grampians

The Grampians region undoubtedly contains some of Victoria's most spectacular scenery, much of which can be seen in the Grampians National Park. Main centres of the region include Ararat, Great Western and Stawell. The town of Ararat is about 200 kms from Melbourne, or a 2 hour drive.

The Grampians region was typical grazing country when gold was discovered in 1854, just outside the present town of Ararat. The Ararat gold fields are notable in that while nearly all the Australian goldfields of the mid-nineteenth century had plenty of miners from China, this one was actually first discovered by a group of some 700 Chinese miners while they trekking from South Australia into Victoria in order to avoid a Victorian government tax designed to limit their numbers. Lots more turned up after that.

As with so many of Victoria’s wine regions, it was as a supply to the goldminers that vines were first planted. In the case of the Grampians region this was done by a French family, Anne Marie Blampied, her husband Jean Pierre Trouette and her brother Emile. Together they established St Peters vineyards. Not long after these three, another Frenchman, Charles Pierlot, introduced the traditional method for making sparkling wine, known as the methode champenoise (or Champagne method). This was the origin of the Great Western winery (which is the name of a town on the road between Ararat and Stawell), eventually purchased by Seppelt.

Despite the presence of several mountain ranges, the Grampians, the Serra and the Pyrenees Ranges, the Grampians region lies mostly at the 350m mark. The region varies from the spectacular Grampians themselves to more gently rolling hills such as are found around the town of Great Western. The danger of frosts, generally in springtime, means that site selection is very important. Low humidity, long hours of sunshine and cooler temperatures make for excellent growing conditions. Only the low rainfall makes irrigation essential.

The Great Western wines of the Grampians region means it is most well known for its sparkling wines. Despite this, it is in fact table wines that dominate production, with such wines as Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, as well as Ondenc and Chasselas. Chasselas is sometimes called Golden Chasselas, while Ondenc, having been brought to Australia from France in the nineteenth century, was not properly identified as such until the 1970s.

An interestingly named winery of the Grampians region is the Mount Langi Ghiran winery (the name is Aboriginal for ‘home of the yellow-tailed black cockatoo’), which combines state-of-the-art technology with traditional winemaking methods. Best known for its intensely flavoured Shiraz, Mount Langi Ghiran also produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Pinot Gris. The cellar door has a magnificent view east over the vineyards due to its location at the foot of rugged mountains.

Seppelt and its Great Western winery has for many years been a major Australian winemaker, for 150 years in fact. While Seppelt began in the Barossa Valley of South Australia in 1851, it has owned the Great Western winery in the Grampians region since 1918. A feature to note of this winery are its ‘drives’, or tunnels that were originally dug by miners seeking gold and then used as wine cellars. They have been extended over the years and are now more than 3 kms long.

Very much smaller than Seppelt’s, the Clayfield Wines vineyard and cellar door, located 2 km from Moyston, is planted with 5 acres of Shiraz. It employs traditional open fermentation, and hand pressing methods are used, including a hand operated wooden basket press. Another winery with a history is the Nursery Block at Best's, originally planted in 1867 and said to have grape varieties so rare they can no longer be identified.

The Grampians Gourmet Weekend, held during May in Halls Gap is the perfect opportunity for you to enjoy the best of the region's food and wine at the one event. Local produce that can also be enjoyed includes olives and olive oil, fruit and berries, yogurt, and almonds.

Within Ararat town are a number of places worth a visit. One is the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre, which tells the history of some of the many gold miners who came from the See Yup district of Taishan, in Guangdong Province, China. Gum San, meaning ‘Gold Mountain’, was a popular way of referring to Australia, or at least the Australian gold fields, by Chinese miners at the time. Another historical location of quite another sort is ‘J Ward’, originally a gaol, it became an asylum for the criminally insane that was only closed in 1991. Here you can learn the details of former prisoners and their crimes, including the non-consecrated graves of three convicted murderers executed in the 1870s and 1880s. For the more outdoor type, the nearby Grampians National Park has scenic drives and, once out of the car, some of the most spectacular bushwalks in the world.

Near Stawell, in the Black Range Forest, can also be seen Bunjil’s Shelter. This is a huge rock overhang with Aboriginal rock art of the mythological Bunjil, a spirit figure from the dreamtime who is said to provide for all ones needs.

Primarily a red wine area, with Shiraz being very well suited, the Grampians region produces wines of elegance and power, with a wonderful capacity to age. Most well known for its sparkling wines, high quality table wines such as Chardonnay and Riesling, as well as the rare Ondenc, are also popular.