THE way to Italian varietals in Australia was paved by the likes of Coriole's Sangiovese, Crittendon's "i" range and Brown Brothers' excellent Barbera.

Now the old Italian tobacco growers-turned­ winemakers in Victoria's alpine valleys around Bright are making Italian varietal wines their specialty.

Foremost among them is Emo Michelini whose winemaker Greg O'Keefe (ex-early Meadowbank days) was in town recently to show off Michelini's latest which include three of Italy's 200-plus native varietals, rare even in their homeland - Teroldego, Marzemino and Fragolino.

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 Michelini 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.

MYRTLEFORD: Deputy Premier and minister for Agriculture, Pat McNamara, paid tribute to post war immigration at the official opening of Michelini's winery on Wednesday. In his speech to a crowd of 60 invited guests, Mr McNamara said the Australian wine industry as it is today owed a lot to the Italian community who brought the love of wine and good food with them to a new country.

SINCE establishing Michelini's vineyard in the Buckland Valley during the spring of 1982, Emo Michelini and his two sons Ilario and Dino began preserving over a century of tradition originating in the Trentino Italian Alps. Emo Michelini was only 25 years old when he arrived in Sydney in 1949 with his young wife Olga on a maiden voyage from Genoa. After making small goods for a local butcher in Redfern for two years, Emo journeyed south to meet his uncle who lived in Myrtleford. It was here that he began sharefarming with several other Italian families in the Ovens Valley. Eventually he was able to purchase his own land and plant the first vines. In 1982, Emo acquired some varietal cuttings of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Merlot from Orlando, Wyndham in South Australia. With most of the vineyard enjoying river frontage and with lime added to the soil to sweeten it, the fresh mountain air and the alpine climate provide the ideal conditions to produce premium wines.

EVEN after days when January's relentless sun takes its toll on farmers in the Buckland Valley, a cool evening air descends on the Michelini family's vineyard like only air among mountains can. Up there where grapes now thrive 300 meters above sea level and fall quickly under the afternoon shadow of Mt Buffalo, Emo Michelini once came and wondered why no-one had planted vines. Born in a village amid the high altitude vineyards of northeast Italy, Emo knew what the rich alluvial soils, long warm summer days and cool nights of this valley could one day help to yield.

Two sons have helped fulfill their father's dream of opening a winery. Ilario, 42, and Dino, 32, have been driving forces behind Emo Michelini's winery at Myrtleford. Emo was only 25 when he arrived in Sydney in 1949 with his young wife Olga from Genoa.

Emo Michelini emigrated to Australia in 1949 from Trentino Alto Adige - a viticultural region in the north of Italy. Within two years of arriving, Mr Michelini, and his wife Olga, were establishing themselves as tobacco growers in Victoria's Ovens Valley.