The last time there was a referendum in Australia, in November 1999 on whether we should become a republic, I spent half of the morning tasting sangiovese – and most of the afternoon indulging in a five-course Italian long lunch cooked by Stefano de Pieri at the Grand Hotel in Mildura, Victoria.

As I’ve written in these pages, that momentous lunch was the precursor to what became, in 2001, the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show (AAVWS). It was also the moment when I crossed the line from journalistic observer to active participant – when I became a card-carrying member of the resistance movement hoping to create more diversity in this country’s then pretty homogenous wine culture.