RETURN TO TERROIR DRIBBLING SUCCESS

Return to Terroir organiser Julian Castagna of Castagna wines at Beechworth, tracking down some French wine which went astray last Saturday morning.

Julian is one of six Australian winemakers in the Return to Terroir organisation, which has has over 180 international members and includes the world's leading biodynamic winemakers in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Australia.

The weekend event in the Melbourne Town Hall was a dribbling success. It was the second such fixture in Australia. Julian attends one or two such tastings somewhere in the world each year. This was a perfect opportunity for enthusiasts to taste the best biodynamic wines the world has to offer.

All these photographs were taken by Milton Wordley ... that's Adam Castagna talking to tasters and Julian Castagna with Dennis and Noah Vice (centre) below. The Vice family's Highbank vineyard was the first organic venture in Coonawarra. The locals treated them with derision when they dared to turn off the petrochem regime. It was a direct threat to the region's standard industrial management psychology.

But that was a long time ago. Now look what's happened!