Biodynamic Wine Directory

Phone: (03) 5728 2888 | 88 Ressom Lane, Beechworth, VIC

Our intention is to make, as simply as possible, wine which is an expression of the place where it is grown. The Castagna Vineyard is situated at an altitude of 500 metres five-and-a-half kilometres outside the beautiful town of Beechworth in Northeast Victoria, high in the foothills of the Australian Alps.

What is it that makes a person who is happily traveling along with a chosen life-pathway turn 90-degrees and head off into the unknown; a decision which would change their lives forever?

Julian and Carolann Castagna were running one of Sydney's most successful film production houses. Julian had worked in the film industry as a Film Director all his working life but had become besotted by fine wine while working in London. Carolann was a Writer.

They decided to plant a vineyard in a place in Australia not yet universally recognized as a major viticultural area but one that Julian believed would be perfect for Syrah and would produce fruit that had the floral fragrance, aniseed and supple, complex subtleties of good Côte-Rôtie. Not a style that was in much evidence in Australia at that time. Julian also believed that Italian varieties had great potential in the same place, so Sangiovese was also a possibility.

They sold the house and the apartment in the city and moved into a caravan on the land: romantic for about five nights till the ants came to visit and the snakes came for a look-see. They built the winery and house out of straw-bale, learning everything on the job as they went along.