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 in 1949, where he worked as a butcher for two years.

His wife Olga joined him 2 years later and they moved to Buffalo River, near Myrtleford in North Eastern Victoria. "I had 50 pounds and enough English to ask for a piece of bread," Emo said, "It was very poor here, very poor. My plan was to make £3000 to £4000 growing tobacco and go back to Italy".

At that time, dairy farms were more common than tobacco crops in the Myrtleford Valleys. Emo began share farming with his uncle and other migrants, living in a tobacco kiln for the first six months before a house could be built. "There was nothing here," he said. "It was 10 miles from town and if you wanted to buy something you had to come in on a pushbike."

"All the time we worked on the farm there was something to do. What choice did we have?" Emo earned extra money as a part-time butcher who delivered meat to other Italian families. His efforts were rewarded when tobacco eventually became very profitable. By this time, Emo had lost a son. Two other children had been born. The idea of returning to Italy began to fade.

In the 1950's, he and others recognised that tobacco was not the only crop destined to thrive in their area. Eventually, in 1982, Emo signed a contract with Orlando to supply premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes for use in sparkling wine. But the story doesn't end there. Emo wanted his own winery.

With Emo's sons Ilario and Dino managing the family company, Emo's hardest years of work are over. The story of his wines, however, has just begun....................