La dolce vita

The influence of southern Italy’s sun-kissed lifestyle has been lovingly recreated in the midst of South Australia’s wineries. Josephine Brouard meets the Dichiera family.

As you wind your way north out of the town of Clare in South Australia’s picturesque wine-growing Clare Valley, and lope along Farrell Flat Road on your way to the historic copper town of Burra, on your right you will see a sign: ‘Evilo Estate’. Turn into the driveway and crunch across the gravel that snakes in front of an elegant turn-of-the-century homestead and park your vehicle under the trees next to a fence of wild prickly pears. Then, as the honeyed sounds of Andrea Bocelli waft across the 40-degree heatwaves, prepare to step back in time into another world… a rugged, remote and little-known part of Italy called Calabria.

Despite having left the tiny village of Caulonia in this southern province more than 30 years ago, it is Giulio Dichiera’s Italian lineage that has largely inspired the lifestyle he and his Australian wife, Debbie, and their three sons, Adam, Luca and Enzo, enjoy today. Debbie may have never been to Italy – “I long to,” she admits – but the influence of Giulio’s roots on their olive-grove business has been enormous.

Though Adelaide-born, Debbie admits she may be a Calabrian in disguise. Perhaps it’s the influence of Giulio’s late mother, known affectionately to everyone as ‘Nonna’, who shared with her daughter-in-law many of Calabria’s wonderful recipes. In Calabria, pasta is treated with reverence. Each city or town has its own pasta specialities, from chewy fusilli to various types of lasagne, and any cook worth his or her salt knows by instinct the best sauce to pair with each pasta. Many Calabrians also depend on their gardens to supplement their table offerings, which is why tomatoes are a staple. Eggplant is considered the queen of Calabrian vegetables – grilled, fried, roasted or stuffed, no mealtime is the same without them.

It‘s no surprise then that visitors who pop into Evilo Estate are offered eggplant fritters and icy lemonade to quench their hunger and thirst. “We have the perfect Mediterranean climate here,” Debbie explains as she gesticulates in the direction of the olive groves budding languidly in the sunshine. “Olive trees love dry summers and wet winters, and that’s what they’ve got here.”

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