Former wine science professor Brian Freeman, a man given to lateral thinking, swears by his flock of pure white pigeons, bred from just two cooing pairs. These busy sky patrollers fly regular sorties over the vines acting like eagles that in turn scare off hungry starlings.

Two coops and two vintages have proved the merit of what might sound like an ornithological myth. Brian reports that bird damage to his precious northern Italian origin varieties has been remarkably reduced. No need for fancy bird scaring devices down in the Hilltops!

More lateral thinking lies behind the FREEMAN portfolio of northern Italian inspired wines led by the award-winning flagship FREEMAN Secco, crafted from co-fermented parcels of fresh and dried grapes, the latter produced in a neighbour's solar-powered prune dehydrator to create an Australian ‘take’ on Amarone. Excess grapes are fed to the warrior pigeons…in the quest for true sustainability.