Legrein, a native to Bolzano up near the alps on the Austrian fronteir, is a classic example of how Italian varieties may open up new opportunities. Even by Alan Cooper's estimation, his Cobaw Ridge vineyard is right on the precipe of marginal wine country. Any cooler and the only drink he could make would probably be a nice hot cuppa tea. But Legrein is right at home. Why plant more shiraz or more caberbnet or more merlot, Alan said.
Most people say it's too hard, there'll never be a flood, it'll always be a small niche market.
Legrein s a point of difference, it's something exciting to play around with different flavours. In the global wine industry there a few more influential opinion makers than Jancis Robinson, Editor of the monumental Oxford Companion to Wine and the BBC's wine buff in residence. She's intrigued and often impressed by the blending of Australian and Italian wine cultures. I think anything that adds variety is fantastic, she said. In this country and most wine-producing countries there's too narrow a range.