Two of the region's vineyards now produce sangiovese varietals or roses, and a third vineyard recently planted the variety and hopes to have the grape in production by 2011 or 2012.

Sangiovese is an "experimental" variety that was introduced into Australia in the 1960s. Many vineyards around Australia are now growing it to see where it's best suited.

The South Burnett's warm, sunny and dry climate seems to be ideal for the variety. But it may take until the 2020's to reach a well-rounded assessment of the grape's potential in the region.

DNA profiling suggests that Sangiovese is the offspring of the Ciliegiolo and Calabrese Montenuovo grape varieties. Ciliegiolo is an ancient Tuscan grape still cultivated in parts of Italy today, while Calabrese Montenuovo is an almost-extinct grape variety from the Calabria region at the toe of Italy.

Literary references show that sangiovese has been cultivated for at least 500 years but some believe that it may have been grown for wine as far back as the the times of the Etruscans (the original inhabitants of Italy) and the Romans. This is partly because of its name and partly because of the grape's long-standing connection to Tuscany, which was the Etruscan homeland.

Sangiovese is so deeply rooted in the Italian winemaking tradition that there are now 14 major clonal varieties - the Brunello clone is the most highly regarded - and a 2008 study suggests that sangiovese is also the parent of 10 other Italian grape varieties (Mantonicone, Foglia Tonda, Gaglioppo, Morellino del Casentino, Morellino del Valdarno, Frappato, Nerello Mascalese, Susumaniello, Tuccanese di Turi and Vernaccia Nera del Valdarno).

Italy remains the undisputed homeland of sangiovese but the grape is now grown in North and South America (particularly California and Argentina); Romania; the Corsican region of France; and in Australia.

In 2001 Italy had 63,000 ha (155,000 acres) of sangiovese on the vine - about 10% of its total grape crop - followed by Argentina with 2,804 ha (6,928 acres); Romania with 1,700 ha (4,200 acres); Corsica with 663 ha (4,109 acres); California with 1,371 ha (3,387 acres); and Australia with 440 ha (1,087 acres).

Sangiovese was introduced into Australia by the CSIRO in the late 1960s to expand the range of grape varieties grown here. The grape has since been trialled in many places and some regions that have shown great promise include the Karridale and Margaret River areas of Western Australia; Langhorne Creek, Strathalbyn and Port Lincoln in South Australia; Canberra and Young in New South Wales; and the western edge of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria.

In Queensland, sangiovese has also shown promise in both the South Burnett and the Granite Belt.

Photo: Tuscany in central Italy is the home of Sangiovese and the grape may have been harvested there since ancient times.

It's also a temperamental grape that requires a long growing season, because it buds early but ripens very slowly.

This makes it more vulnerable to changing weather conditions than rapidly ripening varieties and more suited to areas with consistent climates than those with highly variable ones.

Sangiovese needs sufficient warmth through its growing season to ripen fully and allow the grapes to develop richness and body. In cool vintages, the grapes can have high levels of acidity and harsh, unripened tannins; and in excessively hot seasons, sangiovese's flavors can become diluted.

Sangiovese is a also thin-skinned grape so it's prone to rot and powdery mildew. And because it's a vigorous and highly productive vine, it requires aggressive pruning to keep yields low (excessive yields tend to produce wines with light color and high acidity which are likely to oxidize prematurely). In Tuscany, most quality conscious producers try to limit yields to 1.5kg of fruit per vine.

In the South Burnett, sangiovese grapes usually ripen in late February to mid-March.

Photo: Sangiovese has a long growing season and needs to be extensively pruned to maintain high quality levels.

Sangiovese's main problems are high acidity, light body and the lack of some of the color-creating phenolic compounds which can make the wine look a pale ruby red colour, which changes to brick-red as it ages.

To get around these issues, winemakers employ a variety of techniques to add more body and texture to sangiovese.

These can include adjusting the temperature and length of fermentation; extending the maceration period to leach more phenols out of the grape skins; using only high quality grapes from vines that have been deliberately adjusted to produce very low yields; and employing extensive oak treatment.

Sangiovese takes to oak extremely well and transferring the wine into new oak barrels for malolactic fermentation gives greater polymerization of the tannins and contributes to a softer, rounder mouthfeel. Sangiovese also soaks up sweet vanilla and other oak compounds very easily.

Wines made from Sangiovese tend to exhibit the grape's naturally high acidity as well as moderate to high tannin content and light color. And while sangiovese wines have the ability to age, most straight varietals are produced to be consumed when young - in general, Australian sangiovese will age for 3 to 4 years at most at the present time.

Sangiovese blends, however, can have a pronounced effect on enhancing or tempering the wine's quality and many can be quite remarkable (though they're difficult to make and require great attention to detail on the winemaker's part). But given the fondness Australian winemakers have for producing rich, full-bodied wines it's likely that sangiovese blends will become much more common in the future.

In general, young sangiovese has a pronounced earthy nose with fresh, fruity flavours of cherries, raspberries and strawberries along with a little spiciness. Other flavours that can appear include violets, tea and plums. But sangiovese can also exhibit oaky - even tarry - flavors when aged in barrels. Sangiovese wines also generally have a medium body that can range from firm and elegant to assertive and robust (depending on the winemaking techniques used) and a finish that can tend towards bitterness.

Australian winemakers are still developing their skills with sangiovese and most efforts over the last 40 years have gone into identifying suitable growing areas and finding good clonal varieties to use. Many plantings that were made in the 1990s used inferior clones (and in one case in Western Australia, weren't even sangiovese at all) but there are now about 200 wineries Australia-wide growing sangiovese vines.

Unlike cabernet sauvignon or semillon - where Australian winemakers have put their own unique, international stamp on these varieties - sangiovese still falls into the "experimental" class and domestic winemakers are taking most of their lead from Italy at the present time.

Sangiovese grapes are currently put to five main uses in Australia:

• To produce a straight varietal. Most contemporary Australian sangiovese varietals are either made in the "drink now" style or with a maximum lifespan of 3 to 4 years. A long-life, highly aged Australian sangiovese has yet to emerge.
   
• As a blend with cabernet sauvignon. Carefully blending sangiovese with around 4% cabernet sauvignon has been shown to produce outstanding results in Italy (this blend lies at the core of the "Super Tuscan" wines that renegade winemakers began producing in Tuscany in the 1980s in defiance of Italy's strict wine laws). Some Australian winemakers are now experimenting in this area too - but at present, total volumes are low.
   
• Being blended with merlot (again, total volumes are low at present)
   
• Being blended with shiraz (volumes of this blend are even lower than sangiovese-cab sav or sangiovese-merlot blends)
   
• To produce dry, stylish roses

South Burnett winemakers use sangiovese to produce both straight varietals and a rose at the present time. However a sangiovese blend is thought likely to appear in the next five years.

Photo: Brunello di Montalcino wines are the most sought-after sangioveses in the world.

In general, sangiovese doesn't have strong aromas so it can be served in a standard wine glass.

Sangiovese is a middle-of-the-road wine - neither powerfully bold (like cabernet sauvignon or shiraz) or smooth and mellow (like merlot) and it usually has an alcohol content of between 13% and 14.5%.

Its mild tannins and fruitiness make it very easy to drink, and its acidity and slightly bitter aftertaste are easy to overlook.

These qualities also make sangiovese a very food-friendly wine and it's traditionally paired with pastas, pizzas and other Italian dishes (though its acidity can clash with tomato-based pasta sauces, so these should be avoided).

And because of the wine's long association with the region, traditional Tuscan-style cuisine also matches with sangiovese fairly effortlessly.

Sangiovese is also a good match for grilled red meats, grilled or roasted poultry and vegetables that are roasted or grilled with olive oil, herbs and garlic (the wine's racy acidity is a perfect foil for high fats). Soups made with dried beans like cannelloni and toscanelli also pair well.

Sangiovese also matches well with Gorgonzola cheese but it can be overpowered by blue cheeses. Washed rind cheeses and goats cheeses are often good alternatives.

Sangiovese is best known as the chief component of Chianti - a blend of of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo and 15% Malvasia Bianca that was created by Baron Bettino Ricasoli in the mid-19th century before he went on to become Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy.

Chianti was exported to Australia in large quantities between the 1950s and 1970s but it was of generally poor quality and it led to Sangiovese - rather than indifferent Italian winemaking - being poorly regarded.

However, this view began to reverse in the 1980s when renegade winemakers in Tuscany began bucking the rigid Italian wine laws which govern everything from how Chianti is made through to which grapes can be blended with certain wines, creating "Super Tuscan" blends of sangiovese with cabernet sauvignon, merlot and shiraz which showed the wine's true potential.

Greater attention to quality control and the creation of superior clones over the last few decades have also helped lift sangiovese's profile. And while it's generally regarded as a wine that should be drunk young, the famous Brunello di Montalcino wines - pure sangiovese varietals which are aged for 10 or more years in large wooden barrels - prove that the wine has the potential to be great.

Photo: Sangiovese pairs very well with Italian foods, and particularly with Tuscan cuisine.

Kingsley Grove were followed by Clovely Estate in the mid-2000s and - in 2010 - by Moffatdale Ridge.

Kingsley Grove currently produce two sangiovese varietals and Clovely Estate produce a sangiovese rose. Moffatdale Ridge hope to have their vines in production by 2011 or 2012.

All three wineries are considered the most knowledgeable about this variety, and you should contact them for advice about this exciting new wine.