An Hour With John Casella

A lot can happen over six generations. During that time, the Casella family has experienced it all. Pandemics included.

“My mother lost an uncle to the Spanish flu and my grandfather (my father’s father) only just survived the Spanish flu,” says John Casella, managing director of Casella Family Brands.

John is on the cover of the May-June issue of WBM – Australia’s Wine Business Magazine.

During current Covid times, John’s thoughts are with loved ones back in Italy.

“I’ve got one aunty and several cousins there and they’re all still under lockdown,” he says.

“It makes you realise how lucky we are. We’re one infection away from a disaster and it’s only because we’ve been so vigilant we have stopped these outbreaks quickly.”

He pauses. “In spite of the resources we have, it’s still killing a lot of people every day and is spreading at a faster rate than what it did a year ago.”

John is softly spoken, thoughtful and direct in his thoughts.

In his role at the helm of Casella Family Brands, the patriarch has a lot on his mind.

In 2019, before Covid changed the world as we know it, Casella Family Brands celebrated its 50^th anniversary.

The humble business his Italian parents started in 1969 has grown to become a global wine force to be reckoned with.

• See Katie Spain’s full interview with John Casella in WBM – Australia’s Wine Business Magazine. Subscribe here.