Castagna Beechworth Genesis Syrah 2005

The 2001, 2002 and 2004 wines under this label are all quite beautiful, but I dare say that this tops them all. It's certainly the most complete wine yet released by Castagna. It's beautifully integrated, beautifully proportioned, full of indulgent flavour and then lengthy through the finish. Imagine chomping on a mix of roast pan juices, blueberries, dry chocolates, roast meats and cedarwood, the lot covered in a squishy mix of perfectly ripened blackberries. Yes, I'm a fan. I love it.
Drink: 2011-2019. 96 points."

Campbell Mattinson - Wine Front

On the same wine:

This is the best Genesis I have ever tasted. It’s absolutely buzzing with pepper and exotic spices of all kinds, swirling with plum and black berry fruit, accented with stabs of savoury complexity. The tannins are super fine and the finish is nothing short of phenomenal. Sell the kids if you have to, but don’t miss this wine!

WBM100 - Tyson Stelzer - 96

Castagna Beechworth Un Segreto Sangiovese Syrah 2005

"Outstanding wine. Strong, straight, and savoury. Full of character and tannin. Gorgeously persistent - you can't shut it up - it keeps on talking to you. Flavours of kirsch, smoke, ground spice, hazelnuts, menthol, sour and sweet berried fruit. I love it. It's fascinating. Drink: 2008-2016. 95 points"

Campbell Mattinson - Wine Front

On the same wine:

"Sumptuous and searingly intense, this 'Super Beechworth' of 60% sangiovese has a wild, heady perfume of plums, cherries and small berries backed by musky nuances of charcuterie meats, sweet oak and a suggestion of currants. Underpinned by firm, bony and finely astringent tannins, its sumptuous, velvet-smooth palate delivers deep flavours of plums, blackberries and dark cherries tightly knit with fine-grained and spicy oak. It finishes long and savoury, with lingering dark fruits and minerality. 96 points, drink 2013-2017"

Jeremy Oliver

Castagna 2005 Sparkling Genesis

The best sparkling red I have tried this year though is Castagna's Sparkling Genesis 2005. This could one day be regarded as the finest sparkling red ever produced in Australia - I've drunk a lot of sparkling red over the past 15 years, and I reckon it surpasses everything I have tried. As a young wine it manages elegance and power superbly, mixing spicy, peppery, cedary notes with sexy blackberries and dark cherries and kirsch. Never has such good oak handling been shown in an Aussie sparkling red - this is a new era for the style. It's also dry and structured - another point of difference. The one and only problem with this wine is that it's extremely, extremely rare.

Campbell Mattinson - December 2007

On the same wine:

Vive la difference! Here is a much cooler expression of sparkling Shiraz. Some green peppercorns in the mix, plenty of spice, the bubbles seem to heighten the fragrance and complexity. Castagna has captured super rich berry/cherry fruit, liquorice and his trademark fine soft tannins.

WBM100 - Nick Stock - 93

Castagna Genesis 2004 Syrah

This Beechworth shiraz has quickly and deservedly become an icon but it sells quickly and may already be hard to find. With Giaconda, it makes an eloquent case for Beechworth as one of our greatest shiraz regions. A glorious shiraz (with a dash of viognier), it's beautifully elegant, refined, spicy to sniff and aromatic throughout. Not a big wine by today's standards, it nevertheless has great intensity and length of palate. 95/100"

Huon Hook - SMH wine of the week

Castagna Genesis Syrah 2005

Here's a very ripe, finely crafted and deeply flavoured shiraz from one of Beechworth's key makers. Sporting more overt ripeness than previous vintages, but retaining that all-important length of vibrant fruit flavour, it manages to avoid over-cooked influences. Its heady, spicy aromas of black pepper, dark plums, cassis and blackberries integrated nearly with mocha-like oak and meaty, forest floor undertones. Dark and briary, it's firm, fine-grained and powdery, delivering an excellent length of sour-edged fruit and a hint of minerality that culminate in a long, savoury finish. 18.7/95, drink 2013-2017+"

Jeremy Oliver

"Castagna 2004 La Chiave

La Chiave or ‘The key” is undoubtedly the highest quality Sangiovese made in Australia, and by a country mile. My last brush with a Sangiovese of this quality was in Montalcino itself. Complex violets, sour cherries and broth combine and compete for your attention on the nose. Rich and elegant on the palate, this wine displays hints of that magical umami flavour (similar mouthfeel to drinking consommé) which is the only way I can explain the integrated silkiness and texture partially due from expert oak and tannin balance."

Australian Wine Guide

At the very prestigious 2006 'Les Concours des Vins' the Castagna 2004 Genesis Syrah was awarded one Gold Medal and the two top red Trophies!!

Campbell Mattinson in Gourmet Traveller - Wine wrote of the Castagna 2004 Genesis Syrah:

'Put simply, it's a fabulously explosive wine - like a locomotive of intoxicating, violet-drenched scent, carrying with it a meatiness and a pepperiness (but not excessively so), the flavours mainly of the purest of pure kirsch, blackberries, smoked pig and cedar. It is a wine with stinging, stunning, penetrating length, no alcohol heat, and exquisite oak handling. It is a complete wine, and a firm indication of just how special the Castagna vineyard really is.'

In a recent all encompassing, Australia wide, Shiraz/Viognier tasting Andrew Wood of Divine said of the Castagna 2004 Genesis Syrah:

The Big Daddy of the tasting … viognier adds complexity and at the same time lifts the shiraz to another level. In terms of purity and intensity of fruit, this towers above all the other wines reviewed. Yet it remains supremely elegant—the backbone of firm tannins running the length of the wine, spicy oak and bright acidity all combine to give the wine structure and poise. And the finish is so aromatic; you could be forgiven for thinking that you are drinking a pinot. A seriously good wine.

Jeremy Oliver said of the Castagna 2004 Genesis Syrah:

"Just had to say congratulations again on the shiraz. It is world class. If I were to try and make shiraz, this is what I would be aiming for. Luckily, I'd prefer to drink yours."

And described it as follows:

“Its ethereal, exotically spicy and meaty bouquet of dark cherries, cassis and sweet oak reveals nuances of fennel and cloves, cinnamon and black pepper. Medium to full in weight, but likely to build, it’s an essay in elegance and focus, with a silky palate of beautifully ripened dark fruits, spices, smoky oak and powdery tannins finishing with lingering nuances of charcuterie. 95 points”

Campbell Mattinson of the same wine said:

“A bomb. An absolute beauty. A locomotice of intoxicating, violet-drenched scent, a meatiness and a pepperiness but not overtly so, the purest of pure kirsch and black berries and smoked pig and cedar, and then stinging, stunning, penetrating length. No alcohol heat. Not huge, but ripe. Exquisite oak handling. Yes. 95 points”

Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front.

Jeremy Oliver said of the Castagna 2004 La Chiave:

“Deep, closed and brooding, this tight-fisted and astringent sangiovese should develop superbly in the bottle. Its dusty … fragrance of sour cherries, plums, chocolate and forest floor-like undertones have a floral and slightly meaty aspect. Beneath its supple core of typically sour-edged dark fruits lies a firmish spine of drying tannin. It finishes long, with dark fruit and nuances of nicotine. 95 points"

Campbell Mattinson of the same wine said:

"You need to look at this over a period of time. It’s savoury and reserved, with almond paste and blonde tobacco lurking around the main ooze of black cherry, the cedary oak far better integrated than the excellent 2002 was at the same age. Silken texture. Come back in three or four years. Drink: 2009-2015. 93 points."

Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front.

World class and the best Aussie Viognier I’ve struck. It has the fragrance of a morning breeze through an apricot orchard in full blossom. Ripe yet refined; opulent, light and finely balanced. Seriously good."

Ken Gargett, Brisbane Courier Mail – 94 points.

Philip White - The Adelaide Advertiser 94 points.

2005 Castagna Allegro Rosé - Beechworth
93 points

"Julian Castagna is one of Australia's most sensitive and intelligent winemakers. You don't need to meet the man to tell, as it's written deep into the wines he makes from his small biodynamic estate in Beechworth, Victoria. This shiraz rosé, made from a couple of dedicated foot-trodden rows and some of the juice he runs off when making the red wine, is soulful rather than flippant or sugar-coated. A terrific shade of pale red in the glass, the nose is pure red cherry and berry fruit. It smells like freshly cut strawberry rolled in a handful of stones. The palate is equally as pure, touched with the same red cherry fruits, pristine, supple and direct. He snuck a dash of Viognier into one barrel this year and blended judiciously, enriching the wine's texture without sacrificing any purity. It's a wine made for the table, well built with a crisp, clean finish. Just chill lightly and you'll get the full effect."

The Adelaide Review - Nick Stock
Stock's Choice

At first, this viognier looks elegant and polite, decked with quite stylish apricot, peach and their pith. As it airs, a wave of lush tropicals begins to rise, and then a green salad, with cucumber, as well. It's clean, and silky smooth, textured like grenache, with warm, breathy alcohol and fine white pepper in its pith and velvet finish. Biodynamic too."

Philip White - Adelaide Advertiser Top 100 - 93 points.

"2003 Castagna Sauvage

I like the wine a lot: I think the genius of what Castagna has done is add sangiovese... the meshing of Castagna's naturally meaty, peppery, fragrant syrah... with the overt savoury animal characters of sangiovese have made for a wine that's so interesting it's difficult to put down. In effect then, the 2003 Castagna Sauvage tastes like no wine that Castagna has made before, yet it still tastes like a Castagna wine. It's riper and fruitier, but like so many of his wines, it's as much a conversation as a drink - and in this case, a wildly animated one."

Campbell Mattinson, Winefront Monthly - 91 Points.

"Castagna Sauvage 2003

Here's a biodynamic shiraz that smells of much more than blackberry jam and wood. It's a veritable stew of apples, quince, mulberry and cloves, with new aromas making a break each time you swirl it and sniff. This juicy, strapping fruit overlays a bed of broad, leathery tannins. Magnificent."

Philip White - Adelaide Advertiser Top 100 - 94 points.

Campbell Mattinson in his publication 'Winefront Monthly' writing about the Shiraz Alliance,where the cream of Australian Shiraz was on show said about the 'Castagna 2002 Genesis Syrah'

"...from a complexity sandpoint alone the 2002 Castagna put just about every other young wine served to shame."

Max Allen commenting in The Australian magazine about the '02 Gensis at its showing at the Shiraz Alliance in the Barossa, the heart of Australian Shiraz country, said:

"Stuart Blackwell, winemaker at St. Hallet in the Barossa, comes up to me with a look of pure joy spread across his face. Like many grape treaders in his region, he's famous for producing bold, black shiraz from old vines. And he's just tasted one wine among the 150 at the Shiraz Alliance conference that's blown him away. He flicks through the catalogue in serch of its name.

"That's the one!" he says, his eyes wide. "The 2002 Castagna Genesis. What a wine!"

I've tasted it already and have been following Castagna's wines for a while now (the 2002 is easily the best he's made), but still I wander across to have another slurp - only to find that all six bottles on the table are empty. Obviously, people have heard about and descended on it in a tasting frenzy.

I'm surprised and heartened. Surprised because the Castagna, from Beechworth in north-east Victoria, is in many ways the polar opposite of trad Barossa shiraz: it's intense but medium-bodied, deeply flavoursome and spicy but elegant and fine. It's even labelled "syrah" (the French name for shiraz) to set it apart from many drinkers' expectations of what Aussie shiraz is all about.

What's heartening is that a maker of unashamedly "big" shiraz should get so excited about such a subtle expression of the same grape."

In August 2004, Ralph Kyte-Powell in The Age Epicure wrote of the 2002 La Chiave:

"Julian Castagna's vineyard at Beechworth has made some very impressive wines in its relatively short life, especially a sometimes spectacular shiraz. Castagna's sangiovese, known as La Chiave ("the key"), also has something of a cult status, but in my opinion it hadn't hit the heights of the shiraz until this '02 arrived. It is simply the most stupendous Australian sangiovese I've tasted. In some ways reminiscent of Italian Brunello, it has a super-complex bouquet of warm spice, licorice, mocha, leather and currants - a sort of vinous Siena cake. The palate is savoury yet richly concentrated, dense and beautifully textured with firm but balanced tannins. It builds with air, so decant it if you can.

Five stars - a superb example, a near perfect wine of great character, worthy of the big occasion and the best company."

"Castagna 2003 Ingénue 98/100

Castagna 2002 La Chiave 97/100

Castagna 2002 Genesis Syrah 95+/100"

Colin Climo - The Bulletin, May 2004.

"2002 La Chiave

The best Aussie sangiovese I've ever tasted. It has an intense smoky, undergrowth, savoury aroma with fine background oak and deep-set dark-berry fruits. The palate has great structure and flesh, with ample fine, not-too-drying tannins and impressive length."

Huon Hooke - 'Indulge Yourself' in Good Living in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"2002 Genesis

At full stretch it's medium weight, but the array of flavours, the feel in the mouth, the balance of fruit, oak, tannin and acid - and the wow factor - it's all come together here beautifully. This is a single-vineyard, estate-grown, cool climate shiraz par excellence, with pure flavours of cherry, pencil, turkish delight, stewed plums, spice, black pepper - and the sweet essence of stony earth. The flavoursome mull of smoked smallgoods and tobacco so familiar to lovers of Castagna Genesis Syrah is here in good voice - but it's tucked gorgeously into the swelling scene. Mouthcoating tannins finish it off - it's got the lot."

Campbell Mattinson - Winefront Monthly.

“Castagna 2001 Genesis Syrah

Stop all the clocks, unplug the telephone, give the dog a juicy bone to stop it barking... because you will not want to be distracted when you taste your first mouthful of Genesis Syrah. Neither will it be a moment you will ever want to forget. Castagna set out to make an elegant sensual wine which is a tribute to Robert Jasmin's Côte Rôties, and he has certainly succeeded. Black pepper, nutmeg, violets and anise lead on to a poised and stylish palette which is quite unforgettable.“

Sally Gudgeon - Divine December 2003.

“Castagna 2002 La Chiave

Julian Castagna thinks this is the best wine he's made, which is saying something. There are a mere 170 six packs of it, and if you whinge about the price you should take a holiday in Italy and see what you'd be paying there for such quality. The bouquet's baffling; at different points of the afternoon I reported beetroot, yoghurt, borscht, fresh ginger, tobacco, cream and aniseed. But take the plunge into that bowl of flavour and you're a real goner. It's impossibly luxurious and opulent, with intense sweet fruit in perfect balance with natural acidity and fine tannin.

New benchmark. 94+.“

Philip White - Adelaide Advertiser top 100, November 2003.

Reviewing the Castagna 2001 Genesis Syrah, in The Age Epicure section Ralph Kyte-Powell on 7 January 2003, said:

“Each year the French Chamber of Commerce hosts the Concours des Vins de Victoria, a wine competition judged by a panel of French and Australians. Recent years have seen Castagna Genesis Syrah, from picturesque Beechworth, regularly take top awards for this superb French-accented red. Proprietor Julian Castagna fashions a dream of a wine made from shiraz with a little viognier. It's an exotic, complex, Rhone look-alike of deep berry/cherry aromas and flavours, with floral, meaty and peppery hints adding fascinating aspects. There's a lightly gamey, earthy touch and it tastes rich yet fresh, with silky texture, real intensity and beautiful balance. Lovely. Rating 5 stars (A superb example of a near-perfect wine of great character, worthy of the big occasion and the best company).“

On 27th November 2002, for the second consecutive year, the Castagna Genesis Syrah was awarded the Gold Medal at the very prestigious le Concourse des Vins.

Those of you who have followed us from the beginning know that we have received our fair share of wonderful reviews from many wine commentators, but it gives me extra special pleasure when one of our customers writes and tell us what they think of our wine. I would like to share with you one such note.

"Seldom have I enjoyed a wine so much - we shared a bottle (very slowly I might add) of 2001 Genesis Syrah - the first time I have tried a Castagna wine. It was without question one of the finest, most deliciously made reds I have ever experienced. How is it possible to consume "just" one bottle of red between 4 people over dinner - and yet that is exactly what transpired. To rush such a wine would have been unpardonable .... to drink something else after, unthinkable"

From a Customer

"We tried a bottle of the 02 La Chiave almost as soon as we got home from our weekend in Beechworth and it was absolutely magnificent! It certainly reminded me of a Brunello, with its dense, weighty fruit matched to fine tannins. Over a few hours, the fruit gradually gave a little way to some delicious game and leather, very reminiscent of some of the great Grand Cru burgundies that I have tried."

From a Melbourne Customer

Here is a little feedback from a Frenchman born in the Rhone Valley and who had his taste buds shaped by the very best of Côte Rôtie and Burgundian masterpieces.

"I must admit that I approached Aussie shiraz with utter disdain. Kangurus making wine? Well, I was wrong.

Aussies now have a second-to-none place in my cellar. Some many pure gems...Your Castagna Genesis Shiraz 2001 was part of a mixed case I bought ramdomly, as I love to do, unfettered by wine critics-induced prejudices. And once again, joining the likes of Jasper Hill or Wendouree, your wine instantly astounded everyone around the table. How can that world-class stuff be un-French? My wife is from Burgundy and puts a heavy emphasis on finesse and elegance: you passed with flying colors, being not only reminiscent of the exquisite refinement offered by a Chambertin Grand Cru, but by only by the very best ones. Rolling this liquid velvet in your mouth brings you the ultimate pleasure: joyful, luscious fruit, but not the usual overwhelming, in-your-face, oak-drenched, overripe Parker harlot. No, just delicate sensuality, without any compromise on intensity or length. I drunk hundreds of Syrah, eh, Shiraz and you took it at its wonderous, best possible varietal expression. Those in France who think that their wines will remain unmatched at the top, unassailably protected by unique terroirs, should drink and experience wines like yours: your vines and your art have been equally touched by the grace.

Welcome in "la cour des Grands".

I Briery - London

“I read a quote of Galileo somewhere that, ‘Wine is sunlight held together by water’. It seems to describe your Rosé perfectly.”

From a Customer

“...a complete and sophisticated wine, very intense but still elegant. I bet there are a lot of Pinot makers who’d like to capture that tingling finish.”

From a Customer

Castagna 2001 Genesis Syrah 95+ points

Top pointed wine out of 1,631 wines

Adelaide Advertiser Australia's Top 100 Wines

20 November 2002

"This is the third year in a row that Julian Castagna has given this tasting its highest-pointing wine. They have all been shiraz from the vineyard he owns with his wife, Carolann, near Giaconda, high on the northern slopes of the Australian Alps in Victoria. Most tellingly, all these wines have been grown biodynamically and have been made organically, with absolutely minimal sulphur. This is the most ravishing and deeply intense yet.

Its thick, sweet, heady perfume - there's a teaspoon of viognier here - gives you glimpses of roses, freesias, blueberry, raspberry and marshmallow. Its ravishingly juicy middle palate tastes like lozenges of raspberry, strawberry and mint leaves but soon slides into a gradual roller-coaster rise of natural acidity and extremely fine, tight, black tannins.

This finish has all the supple, springy, shiny gunmetal blueness of a long crosscut saw. The aftertaste seems tantalisingly like a chocolate creme caramel. I could go on but those who insist on spraying Roundup, fungicides and insecticides into old Australia think I'm crazy and dangerous."

Adelaide Advertiser - Australia's Top 100 Wines, 20 November 2002

“...a fine savoury wine...tobacco, black plum and pepper and wheaty aromas emerge. The oak smells delicious as well. On the palate there’s chewy tannin and fine vanilla pod oak, with sweet, savoury pippy blackberries and plums, and a tweak of coal dust to close.

It gets even better with a few hours’ breathing...” 91/100

Tim White - Australian Financial Review