History of Cassegrain Wines
Cassegrain Wines is built on a rich family legacy of winemaking. The Cassegrain’s ancestors have passed down a deep knowledge of viticulture and their commitment to excellence.
John Cassegrain’s mother (Countess Francoise de Solere) is a descendant of a family which traces its lineage to the 10th century, who had wine estates in the then French region of Piedmont (now Northern Italy). Count Luce de Solere moved their family to the Burgundy region in 1803 who planted a small vineyard, and went on to establish extensive vineyards in Bordeaux.
John Cassegrain’s uncle (Count Jacques Burignot de Varenne) is a descendant and current director of Augier Freres, the oldest producer of Cognac in Cognac, which was founded in 1643.
1952
The Cassegrain family settled in the Hastings River region of Australia.
1970
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.
1974
John began working at Tyrrell's Wines in the Hunter Valley. He begun as a cellarhand, and progressed to consultant winemaker by working each vintage through until 1983.
1975
John began his studies at Roseworthy College, and graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor in Applied Science (Oenology).
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.
1979
John spent vintage in 1979 in Burgundy working at Domaine de la Folie.
1980
John travelled to the University of Davis in California to present a thesis on natural fermentation.
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 family's techniques from traditional French winemaking, with our Australian passion, expertise and technologies.
1986
Club Cassegrain began, giving members access to our new release wines before the public, exciting member only events, and receiving generous discounts anytime they purchased from us.
1987
Cassegrain Wines began exporting into Japan and Hong Kong.
1993
Our production facilities were expanded. We constructed a purpose-built grape receival area to accomodate large trucks and allow us to quickly process grape deliveries. A vintage cellar was also added, providing a stable environment to store and age wines.
2008
As we continued to expand, we built a warehouse on-site, allowing us to hold over 850,000 bottles of wine currently, with room to double capacity. We hold Cassegrain Wines stock, as well as Private Label wines we have produced.
2011
Alex Cassegrain completed a double degree in Viticulture and Oenology at the University of Adelaide, and joined our Cassegrain Wines winemaking team.
2019
At the end of 2019 and into 2020, 40,000 tonnes of wine grapes were lost to bushfires across NSW. Those whose vineyards were not completely razed, were left with damaged and smoke tainted fruit, unusable for winemaking. Smoke taint causes grapes to taste bitter, smoky and ashy. This had a devastating impact on wineries, and greatly restricted what could be made from the 2020 vintage. Alex Cassegrain lead the $2.3 million Cooperative Research Centres project to develop new methodologies and strategies for the Australian wine industry to manage tainted fruit, in conjunction with Dr Megan O-Connor from De Beaurepaire Wines, Adelaide University, the Australian Wine Research Institute, Ligar, VA Filtration, and other industry partners.The research was focused on understanding, trialling, and testing how new and existing technologies can help grape growers and winemakers remove or mitigate smoke taint from 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.
2021
Alex Cassegrain was named Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology’s (ASVO) 2021 Winemaker of the Year. The award is in recognition of his work with growers, suppliers, research companies, and agencies to further the industries organoleptic and chemical understanding of smoke taint, and how it can best be treated during and after ferment, to either mitigate or reduce its effects on the wine.
2023
We restructured Cassegrain Wines, with Alex and Philippe taking over from John. 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.
2024
taste @ cassegrain opened, providing a restaurant experience not found in the local region. Alex and our chef create seasonal menu's, pairing each dish with two wines which compliment and highlight the flavours of each.
