Castagna Vineyard

Julian Castagna was a film director in Sydney when wine pulled him sideways. He and Carolann sold up, moved into a caravan on bare grazing land outside Beechworth, and planted Syrah in 1997 — five clones descended from 1850s Rhône stock. The straw-bale winery has been farmed biodynamically from the start, coaxing the granitic soil's minerality into wines that track Côte-Rôtie rather than the Australian mainstream.