Julian saw great promise for Syrah in the region and dreamt of producing Australia’s version of Côte-Rôtie from the granitic soils and had great plans for Italian grape varieties, Sangiovese and Nebbiolo.

Initially, they lived in a caravan as they built their straw-bale house and the vineyard, farmed biodynamically from the get-go, was planted in 1997.

It was early days for the wine region; Rick Kinzbrunner over at Giaconda made his first Shiraz Ovens Valley fruit in 1998. Between Rick & Julian’s 1999 Genesis Syrah….. Australian Shiraz was about to get all shook up.

These north-west Victorian wines were a far cry from the normal Australian Shiraz fare - composed, meaty, spicy and savoury with those tight granitic tannins and bright lines…. They were a revelation.

From the flagship Genesis through to a bouncy Pet-Nat, skin-contact Riesling and some of the best Sangiovese & Nebbiolo you’ll come across, these are wines of terroir and finely tuned intuition and knowledge of the site.

Today, Julian and Carolann’s son Adam has stepped into the winemaking role and the wines remain benchmarks for Australian wines of place and are much sought after by those that appreciate wonderful minimal intervention wines.

The Castagna vineyard lies at around 500 metres above sea level on decomposed granitic loam with a predominance of quartz particles on a base of clay.

Yields are tiny and the grapes are harvested by hand and fermented utilising indigenous yeasts and a very gentle, considered approach in the cellar.

These are vital wines …. Complex, vivid and detailed with an effortless inherent drinkability made from beautifully biodynamically farmed grapes…. They are the real deal.