Alpine Valleys

Distinguished and Famous people from Alpine Valleys

Victoria's Alpine Valleys are a region of working vineyards and mountain communities. Their notable connections include a migrant winegrower and skiers who grew up on the valley floor before competing overseas.

🍇 Emo Michelini

Emo Michelini was born in Rovereto, Italy, and migrated to Australia in 1949. His family's working life around Myrtleford included tobacco farming before a move into winegrowing. He planted vines in 1982, and the Michelini winery produced its first commercial vintage in 1997. The family's Buckland Valley vineyards and Myrtleford cellar door became part of the Alpine Valleys wine industry. His story connects migration and changing agricultural livelihoods with a distinctly local winemaking enterprise.

⛷️ Greta Small

Porepunkah-raised Greta Small took her skiing from Victorian mountain training programmes to three Winter Olympics. Her early experiences included Mount Buffalo and racing at Mount Hotham; she later carried Australia's flag at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics. In senior competition, her thirteenth place in the alpine combined at Beijing in 2022 followed appearances at Sochi and PyeongChang. The valley town was home, with the nearby slopes supplying an unusually demanding extension to the playground.

⛷️ Malcolm Milne

Myrtleford's Malcolm Milne learnt to ski at Falls Creek and went on to compete for Australia at two Winter Olympics. His World Cup downhill victory was the first by an Australian, and a world championship bronze added to a record that challenged expectations of Australian skiing. He also carried Australia's flag at the 1968 Grenoble Games, giving the Myrtleford skier a prominent role before the racing began.