THE northern-most wine region of Italy, known as Trentino-Alto Adige, is like no other in that country.
An incredibly diverse mixture of climates, soil structures and grape varieties, it is a mixture of the northern Alto Adige region which is cool and mountainous and specialises in mainly single variety wines from the bench grapes of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot bianco, gewurztraminer and riesling.
Strongly Austrian in character, this region used to be part of Austria and German is still spoken freely.
The more southern Trentino region is warmer and less alpine in its character but still produces mainly single variety wines.
Whites are mainly chardonnay, pinot grigio and pinot bianco and there are good reds as well, with cabernet sauvignon and franc, merlot and some interesting indigenous varieties including marzemino, lagrein and teroldego.
The vine is grown everywhere in Italy and regions such as Trentino Alto Adige have a strong wine culture.
It is therefore not surprising that Italian immigrants coming to Australia from regions such as Italy's northeast should have a strong wine culture and love for the vinous product.
Emo Michelin is such a person.

Emo Michelini and his wife, Olga, emigrated to Australia from Trentino Alto Adige, in the north of Italy, in 1949 and within a few years were successfully farming tobacco in the Buckland Valley, in Victoria's alpine country.
In the mid 1980's, Emo and his sons, Ilario and Dino, and their families planted a vineyard using cuttings from Orlando Wyndham's vineyards in South Australia.

Emo Michelini was part of the great post-war immigration wave that changed the face of rural Australia. Born among the high-altitude vineyards of northern Italy, Emo arrived in Sydney with his wife and young son in 1949, where he worked as a butcher for two years.

INSPIRED by northern Italian villas, Michelini's Winery cements the family roots of pre-war Italy to the modern day. Commencing with the architecture right through to the finer interior details, the cellar door sales building is a tribute to the family heritage and to the hard work of immigrant Emo Michelini. Starting only with magazines and photos of streetscapes and typical houses from the Trentino region, designer Ross Beaver of Sunjoule Design took the challenge and succeeded.