the corsini
Our Story
Born in Bagni di Lucca, Gino Corsini started working as canecutter in Queensland. Following complications due to leptospirosis, contracted in the cane fields, he moved to Victoria. He moved to Mareeba in 1953, met Carmel in 1957, and they got married in 1958. After running a fish and chips business in Wangaratta, he share-farmed tobacco in Eurobin in 1965. In 1969 they finally acquired a plot of land in King Valley, starting as a tobacco producer until 1994. Still, they had already started growing vines as early as 1980. A change in the legislation on tobacco and the reduction of request from cigarette companies convinced Gino and his family to a shift in produce to vines in 1993. While in the first years he would only supply grapes to the bigger local wine producers like Brown Brothers, the family had the courage to start producing their own wines. The farm, which takes up around 65 acres, counts now with three generations, including Gino’s children Peter, Linda and other siblings, along with Gino’s grandson Ruben, who studies Oenology.
What we produce
The Corsini family, under the trade name of “La cantina”, produce a wide variety of wines, including Sangiovese, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Rosato, Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Barbera, Tempranillo, Merlot, Shiraz, Superavi Cabernet Sauvignon.
Words of wisdom
“What we’re doing at
the moment is called canopy management, we are trying to keep the canopy all upright and allow air into the fruit, and while we keep it upright by moving foliage, and that has to be done by hand. This prevents a lot of disease in the fruit [due to heavy rain] […] This technique have been used by the Italians
when growing Chianti for years.”
SUPPORTED BY
The Italian Australian Foundation and La Trobe University
