Family Confidential

The Casellas (2x6)

: 08, 2012

"That's a potent combination - being successful, being Italian and being from Griffith - almost a red flag for someone to say, 'Well, we must have done it some other way.'" John Casella, middle brother and Managing Director, Casella Wine. Everyone knows Yellow Tail - it has just been ranked Australia's most powerful wine brand in the world. But the story of the family that created it - a family that has come from nowhere to become Australia's wealthiest winemakers with assets close to four hundred million dollars - has been clouded by gossip and innuendo about their home town. This is the story of a close-knit Sicilian family who risked everything for the migrant dream of success. Leaving all they loved dear, the Casellas joined a flood of Italian migrants who transformed the all-Australian town of Griffith in NSW. Like many, they created a small family vineyard and winery - and over two generations strove to build their fortunes. They hit the jackpot just a decade ago with a new label, Yellow Tail. Today, it is Australia's greatest wine export success - the most popular imported wine in the United States. It's made the Casellas the pride of Griffith. But there has been a darker side to the family's good fortune. Griffith has long been in the news for all the wrong reasons, with a reputation for drugs and organised crime. As the Casella's winemaking fortunes grew, the town's dramatic past would come back to haunt them - culminating in blackmail, a dramatic police sting and a prison sentence. Now for the first time, the family speaks out about the story behind their success.