How a few smuggled cuttings in a suitcase helped start this 100-year-old Italian tradition

When Robert Credaro's grandfather first arrived in Carbunup in the 1920s, it was a far cry from the famous Margaret River wine region it is today.

Now the landscape is littered with verdant vineyards, top-notch restaurants and rural spas.

But in the 1920s, it was nothing but bush.

"My grandmother always commented that they had come to this bush and the road to Margaret River was only 'a gravel road', recalls Robert Credaro.< /p>

His grandparents Cesare and Maria had taken a huge risk.

The Margaret River wine region is full of vineyards and wineries. (ABC South West WA: Anthony Pancia)

They had come separately on the boat from Sondrio, Italy, to find work and a new life in the southwest. Western Australia.

In 1923 they bought 146 acres of land at Carbunup from the government for £250, but the sale was on the condition that they cut timber on the land.

"They just gradually built up from that," Mr. Credaro said.

"They cleared the land and raised a few cows, a few pigs.

"It was about survival - they didn't have much."

After some land was cleared, the Credaros planted vines to continue an important cultural tradition of wine making and drinking.

Like many Europeans who first settled in the south west, we think the vines came on the boat.

"The [vine] cutting - they would have brought them in their suitcases," Mr. Credaro said.

"So, there wasn't much quarantine then.

"They would have just brought the cuttings with them and planted them."

The original land purchased by Cesare Credaro in the 1920s. (ABC South West: Kate Stephens)Wine for the kids

One ​​hundred years later, the Credaros are still owners of this land...