Our History

Cassegrain Wines is built on a rich family legacy of winemaking dating back to 1643. With roots in the Bordeaux and Burgundy regions of France, and ancestral ties to Piedmont, Italy, the Cassegrain family’s story is one of tradition, innovation, and passion. The family’s winemaking history includes owning vineyards in Bordeaux before World War I, maintaining a small vineyard in Burgundy, and operating a historic Cognac house. Their ancestors migrated from Piedmont to France five generations ago, bringing with them a deep knowledge of viticulture and a commitment to excellence.

1951 the Cassegrain family settled in the Hastings River region of Australia.

1969 John Cassegrain began his winemaking journey with a transformative trip to France, where he immersed himself in the wine culture of Cognac, Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Besançon.

1973 John begun his studies at Roseworthy College in 1973, followed by hands-on experience at Tyrrell’s Wines, where he combined French traditions with modern techniques.

1978 John pioneered research in the understanding of the sequence of yeast in Natural Fermentation in Australia. Based on this research, he would go on to use native indigenous yeast for the fermentation process throughout his winemaking.

1981 John planted the first vineyard and established the winery. Embracing the French “terroir” concept, he carefully selected grape varieties suited to the local climate and pioneered a multi-regional winemaking approach, which was innovative for its time.

1985 Cassegrain Wines was founded in Port Macquarie, to marry our families techniques from traditional French winemaking, with our Australian passion, expertise and technologies.

1986 Club Cassegrain begun.

1987 Cassegrain Wines began exporting into Japan and Hong Kong.

2011 Alex Cassegrain completed a double degree in Viticulture and Oenology at the University of Adelaide, and joined the winemaking team at Cassegrain Wines.

2020 Philippe Cassegrain joined Cassegrain Wines, after working at a consulting firm for six years, and completing his business degree from The University of Newcastle.

2020 Alex headed the research project into smoke tainted wines (following the fires across New South Wales) in conjunction with Adelaide University, the Australian Wine Research Institute, and their industry partners.

2023 John handed the reins over to his sons, Alex and Philippe. Alex continues his fathers winemaking legacy as Chief Winemaker, and Philippe leads the strategic and core operations. To expand our reach and bolster our experience, Alex and Philippe founded Avenir Vigneron with Shiana Tyler (Managing Director of Binmint Pty Ltd), Selva Saverimuttu (Chairman of Horizons Golf Resort), Link Bale, and Bob Bale, (Directors of Bale Defence) to manage Cassegrain Wines.