When Tony Palazzo emigrated to Australia as a 24-year-old in 1966 he brought with him his young wife Alba, a couple of hundred years of family winemaking tradition and a fierce desire to create for his children and grandchildren the sort of "la dolce vita" he had so enjoyed growing up in southern Italy.

"We really did have a sweet life growing up in southern Italy, where my parents, Gennaro and Caterina, owned a bottega in the foothills of the Apennines," said Tony.

"A focal part of that sweet life was sharing good food, good wine and good company. They really were central to our existence, and some of my earliest memories are of sitting at the table eating delicious food, occasionally sipping some watered-down wine and listening to rollicking conversation.

"Like hard work, this was part of the essence of life."

Tony and Alba started their Australian lives grazing cattle and growing wheat in the Riverina, but were forced off their farm by the drought of 1973 and moved to Melbourne.

Tony became a property developer, produced roofing products and developed PDS Wine Services, a wine warehousing business which further entrenched the family in the industry and which they still own. Alba happily took on the task of raising their three children, Roger, Leo and Silvia.

Photo: Killara Railway Station

In 1987 the family bought the Killara Estate, right on the banks of the Yarra River near Seville and, at 1200 acres, one of the largest private holdings in the valley and one with plenty of history.
In the late 19th century the estate was owned by David Mitchell, father of the famous diva Dame Nellie Melba, and from 1883 by the legendary David Syme, of The Age newspaper fame. Syme made many improvements to the property and helped pioneer European-style irrigation systems in the Yarra Valley. He planted 80 acres of orchards and his apples fetched top prices in London.

The Palazzos continued using the Killara Estate for grazing angus cattle but in the mid-1990s it was time to fulfil Tony’s viticultural ambitions by planting pinot noir (72 acres), chardonnay (20 acres), merlot (20 acres), shiraz (12 acres) and cabernet (10 acres). More recently, the vineyards have been expanded by about four acres each of sauvignon blanc, viognier and pinot grigio, taking the total area to just under 150 acres.