Two families come together…

Was [yellow tail] created by luck or good judgement? The truth is a little of both. If the Casella and Deutsch families had not met each other in 1998, history would have been written very differently.

Here's how the Deutsch family in the US met the Casellas and marked the start of a beautiful relationship...

Here's a word from Bill Deutsch, Chairman of W.J. Deutsch & Sons Ltd - [yellow tail]'s US importer

"In Christmas of 1997, my son Peter and I were sitting around, relaxing by the pool with our families. I told Peter my instinct was that the time had come to get into the Australian wine business. We talked a little bit and he agreed with me, and when we returned from vacation, I reached out to some friends at the Australian Trade Commission. I told them that we were interested in finding a family producer who wanted to do business in the US. In the spring of 1998, we met with the Casellas at the Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of America (WSWA) Convention in California, strictly by coincidence - life's full of them!

So, at the WSWA Peter and I met with John Casella. From our side it was instant chemistry. I only understood about 85 per cent of what they said because they sometimes spoke funny - that's just a joke! Even now I still only understand 85 per cent of what they say! On my last visit to Australia, in April 2007, I spent a few days in Sydney and bought a couple of books on Australian slang. Having read the two books, I now understand 100 per cent of what they say.

I saw in John Casella a man very committed to the wine style and an individual very committed to a family business which was started by his parents in 1965. He told me about his parents, whose little house is at the winery, and I thought he was kidding around. He told me about his brother who came back from the insurance industry and joined the company. He told me that his children were much too young to come into the business.

We talked a little bit about philosophy, a little bit about wine and a little bit about the world, and I just had an overall comfort level that this was the kind of person that I could work with in the long term. I think Peter had the same feeling. I truly believed we had the makings of a very good relationship.