"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.

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)."

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