ROSCIC family members gathered among the vines in Henley Brook this month to celebrate a century since their family’s Swan Valley story began.

For long-time Swan Valley table grape grower Graeme Roscic, the occasion marked 100 years since his grandfather arrived from Croatia in 1926 and laid the foundations for three generations of grape growing.

About 60 members of the extended family came together at the vineyard, sharing lamb and pork cooked on spits and vegetables prepared in the Croatian tradition.

Mr Roscic said his grandfather was 24 when he arrived in Australia, while his wife followed three years later with their eldest child.

Like many Croatian migrants who settled in the Swan Valley, he found a community where new arrivals helped one another establish themselves.

Mr Roscic said when his grandfather arrived, there were Croatians who were already in the valley so the idea of the Swan Valley was, “some Italians, some Australians, but a lot of Croatians, and the (Croatians) kind of all knew each other.”

“They were from similar spots in Croatia.”

His grandfather worked various jobs, including on the Kalgoorlie timber line, before buying a vineyard in West Swan.

From there, grapes became part of the family story.

The vineyard produced table grapes, wine grapes and currants while his grandfather also made red wine.

Mr Roscic recalled wine being transported from Guildford railway station to Kalgoorlie, where Croatian and other Yugoslav migrants bought it through an informal network built on trust.

“He obviously had a vision, he had a lot of drive,” he said.

“My grandfather was very instrumental in all this.”

Mr Roscic said that foundation allowed the next generation to remain on the land.

Mr Roscic’s father continued in the table grape industry and became president of the WA Table Grape Growers Association.

Mr Roscic initially took another path, leaving school and working in commercial ceiling installation during the 1970s.

But when the family vineyard became available again, the vines drew him home.

“I thought, well right, I’ll come back and I’ll do both,” he said.

“I (discovered) I could make more money on the grape side of things than what I could on the commercial ceiling side, and so that was my actual lead into it.”

Eventually he concentrated entirely on grapes, later leasing other vineyards and establishing a packing operation supplied by eight growers.

He became a direct supplier to Woolworths and was among the growers who adapted when supermarkets began selling table grapes in plastic bags.

While earlier generations of the family produced wine grapes and dried fruit as well, Mr Roscic said his operation shifted exclusively to table grapes about 30 years ago.

But the connection to his grandfather extended beyond making a living.

As a young child, Mr Roscic spent about three years living on his grandparents’ veranda.

His grandparents spoke no English and he picked up some Croatian while surrounded by the vines and traditions they had brought with them.

“That instilled in me quite a respect for the actual vines and the lifestyle,” he said.

“I don’t know whether it’s in the DNA or whether I just actually like the idea of it, and the older I got the more I liked it.”

He said growing up on a Swan Valley vineyard offered a distinctive childhood, with the Swan River nearby and agricultural life existing alongside metropolitan Perth.

Growers picked grapes in temperatures reaching 40C and pruned vines through winter rain, but for families raised in the industry, the work became part of everyday life.

“If you were born to it, you kind of go, ‘Well okay, that’s what we do,” Mr Roscic said.

“The grandfather started it, the father continued, I was able to actually start and continue myself.”

When asked whether growing grapes made him feel connected to his grandfather and father, Mr Roscic’s answer was emphatic.

“Very much so,” he said.