Salute! Otto Dal Zotto toasting with a glass of Prosecco

It’s a crisp winter’s day in the King Valley, north east Victoria, as we pull into Sam Miranda’s cellar door on our way to Cheshunt further up the valley. Strategically located at the juncture of the Snow Road and Whitfield Road, its bold tower which juts out above the lush flat river plain like a beacon is reminiscent of a Ned Kelly helmet and invokes nostalgia for the old tobacco drying towers in the region.
We walk down a gentle incline to the tasting room, an open stylish space of floor to ceiling windows. Opposite is a long smart tasting bar, flanked by barrels of wine and a gleaming black Vespa as a statement of Italian style.  Outside, a large terrace area overlooking a line of red river gums, is the perfect place to sit and eat on warm sunny days. Designed by architect Alex Popov and opened just over two years ago, the Miranda cellar door symbolises a new generation of Italians taking over the valley.
We’re lucky to find Sam Miranda on site and he guides us through a tasting of some of the wines from his hand-crafted Sam Miranda and Symphonia range.  I’m very taken by a light dry Arneis, made from an Italian varietal, and a plummy rich Barbera Shiraz blend.
“The Australian palate is changing rapidly,” he says. “People are sick of full-blown Oz cordial, and are looking for leaner more elegant styles.”
He’s just one of a band of  Italian winemakers up and down the valley growing a range of Italian varietals which include whites such as vermentino, pinot grigio and arneis and  reds such as nebbiolo, sangiovese and and nero d’avola.  If you’re tired of sauvignon blanc, semillon and shiraz, they offer different tastes and textures and more exciting possibilities with food.
It’s in this valley that winemakers are now beating the drum for Prosecco, a sparkling light dry white wine native to north-east Italy. First planted in the 1990s by the Dal Zotto family, it’s one of the ultimate feel-good, fun drinks.
“The Prosecco project is a collaboration between three Italian Family wineries (Dal Zotto, Chrismont and us) and Brown Brothers to package and promote our own Prosecco styles in a regionally branded bottle . The bottles are being moulded as we speak so we don’t have any for show yet,” says Miranda. “We’re breaking new ground, as no other region in Australia has done this before.”
The good news is that you’ll be able to taste the new vintage, along with other Italian wine styles, at the King Valley ‘La Dolce Vita’ festival in mid November. All three wineries have cellar doors and vast expanses of lawn where you can throw down a rug, join in the celebrations and sip away.  At Dal Zotto, halfway up the valley, the weekend-long festival, tagged ‘Primavera del Prosecco’, includes wine master classes, bocce, live Italian folk-style music, helicopter joy flights and kids activities. There’ll be plenty  of traditional Italian comfort food on hand too. Chat to winemaker Michael Dal Zotto about their two different styles of Prosecco (’L'immigrante’ and ‘pucino’) and sample a variety of cocktails including the famous Bellini made with Prosecco and white peach nectar.
At Chrismont, a beautiful undulating property on the banks of the King River near the top end of the valley, Arnie and Jo Pizzini will cater for hundreds of guests under a large marquee with antipasti and pasta dishes using fresh local produce prepared by Matt Wilkinson of Melbourne’s Circa, The Prince, restaurant. Talented Chrismont winemaker Warren Proft has been making some outstanding Italian varietals under the ‘La Zona” label, including a signature Barbera and a Marzemino Frizzante, a delicate yet sprightly interpretation of a sparkling red refresher, which you can also taste these over the weekend.
The festival takes place in spring and offers a marvellous opportunity to explore this lush hidden valley. For most of the rest of the year, it’s quiet and sleepy and, unlike the Yarra and Hunter Valleys, the winegrowers in the King Valley still have time to stop and chat. There are plenty of interesting characters along the way including former tobacco grower Gino Corsino at La Cantina, Bianca and Luis Simian at Politini Wines (ask them about their salami-making weekends), the legendary Fred and Katrina Pizzini at Pizzini’s (look out for Katrina’s new cookbook, “A Tavola”), the cheeky Doug Groom at Avalon wines and beef producer Winnie Jones at Mt Bellevue. Chef Adam Pizzini is doing great things at Rinaldo’s with seasonal produce (his jams and preserves are well worth checking out)  – and you mustn’t leave the valley without tasting one of Barb Sartori’s roast pumpkin, onion jam, bocconcini and rocket pizzas at King Valley Cucina, or the Italian sausage with mozzarella, Veneto salami, cheese and spinach, cooked in a wood-fired oven in their cleverly restored tobacco kiln.
“We grow all our own vegetables and fruit,” she says. “In summer, depending on my mood, I’ll make sweet pizzas or strudel using our peaches, nectarines, pears and apples.”
Life really can’t get any sweeter.

Qantas, Virgin Blue and Rex Airlines fly to Albury airport where you can hire a car and drive to Oxley (approx. 1 hour 15 minutes) and then wander up the King Valley.

A good place to stay is:
Christmont Wines
251 Upper King River Road.,
Cheshunt
Ph. 03 5729 8220
www.chrismont.com.au
It’s a large comfortable well-equipped house which overlooks the Chrismont vineyards and beautiful undulating countryside of the King Valley.