While living in San Francisco they also came across Sangiovese, a favourite of the local Italian population there. With links to the Hunter going back to 1798, the Lusbys continued their interest through winemaking and chose a site in the Hunter Valley where the whole family pitched in to clear the land and plant the vines, and they have since pioneered the Sangiovese variety in the region.

Robert Lusby and his winemaker son James feel they have embraced the traditions of the old world with the taste of the new. As well as the famed Italian grape, they are renowned for classic Hunter Semillon, Shiraz and Chardonnay.