The Team

Mike Garland

After completing a bachelor degree in Biological Science, Mike ventured into various pursuits including wetland research, computer sales and fashion retail. It was whilst working in the ragtrade in Adelaide that Mike started discovering an interest for wine (ably assisted by his wino brother). This interest soon turned into obsession when Mike returned to Perth to run a very successful clothing business. Fuelled by a passion for cool climate wine styles, Mike and his wife, Julie, made the move in 1996 to Mount Barker in the Great Southern where they purchased an established mature vineyard.

Mike went back to study Wine Science at Charles Sturt University and became a strong regional ambassador, working initially for Plantagenet Wines and then developing a vibrant contract winemaking facility (along with being a part time house builder and having 3 children). This gave a solid foundation in all aspects of the wine industry, from viticulture, marketing, logistics management and most importantly his main passion, winemaking. Mike also gained considerable experience in the Mittlerhein, Germany to expand on his fascination with Germanic style Rieslings. The opportunity to head up the Castelli Winery at Mount Shadforth was too good to refuse and in 2007 Mike helped the Castelli family’s winery dream become a reality. The central driving force behind Mike’s winemaking philosophy is that it is always about balance and structure – something that can only be truly achieved from cool climate viticulture.

Andrew Hoadley

Born into a family of tee-totalling Presbyterians in rural Queensland, Andrew Hoadley completed a degree in History before discovering a love for wine whilst doing the grape harvest in Burgundy, France. He completed a degree in Wine Science at Charles Sturt University and since then has made wine in some of Australia’s most exciting cool climate regions, including Canberra, northern Tasmania, Orange and the Strathbogie Ranges. He has also worked three vintages in Italy (Piedmont and Abruzzo) and one in Washington State, USA, gaining experience with a wide array of international grape varieties. He is particularly passionate about the potential of Shiraz in the Great Southern and the world class Riesling from Mount Barker and Porongurup. Andrew and his wife Hanna live on the forested slopes of Mount Shadforth, just outside Denmark, with their two children.

Michael Kelly

Mick is our resident marketing and sales guru. His extensive experience in both the retail and wholesale aspects of the industry has been developed through being in the wine trade since 1991. This all came about after developing a passion for fine Bordeaux and Burgundy (thanks to a kind relative with an exquisite cellar!). In late 2008, Mick felt well placed to branch out on his own and jumped at the chance to take sales of the Castelli Estate wines on, which meant once again working with Mike Garland.

He says “With a bent for fine boned, cool climate wines, the Castelli range is right up my alley and just quietly, it doesn’t hurt that the wines are damned good value too! I can’t wait to see the upcoming reserve wines from these guys.”

Stay tuned!

James Majer

James is the newest addition to the Castelli team, taking on a roll in sales and marketing. James started out in the hospitality industry at an early age, originally behind the scenes doing accounting and payroll for a well known Perth bar. 15 years down the track and James has gained vast experience in all areas of hospitality from venue management, retail, as well as wholesaling and importing. James’ passion for fine wine was developed over a period of 8 years managing Perth’s premier wine store ‘Steves Fine Wine’ in Nedlands, where he developed a love of European wines, particularly white Burgundy, Bordeaux and Spain’s Rioja wines.

Stephanie Bennett

Stephanie joined Castelli Estate early in 2010. A move into the wine industry was a significant change of scenery following her history in the engineering and medical fields. Stephanie is the friendly voice at the other end of the phone and the smiley face in the office. She undertakes the daily administrative activities for Castelli Estate and assists customers with wine orders.

Luca Castelli

After a lifetime of annual visits back to his parents’ homeland, Luca grew up experiencing what was involved in viticulture through his hands-on assistance in the vineyard with his grandfather ‘Nonno’ Germino. While completing his double degree in Science and Engineering (electrical power engineering and renewable energy engineering majors), Luca developed his knowledge of the wine industry over several years working as a cellar hand in the state’s Swan Valley. Amongst his other interests and involvement in the entertainment and power generation industries, Luca oversees and coordinates the operation of the family’s wine businesses with a vision to develop them into respected members of the Western Australian wine industry. When he has spare time outside of his energy projects, he is frequently seen getting his hands dirty in the winery, personally delivering wines to customers with a friendly smile and playing ad-hoc truck driver to carefully move our wines from Denmark to our Perth warehouse.

Sam Castelli

Sam’s passion for wine started as a young worker on his family’s farm in Italy. Against his father’s will at the time, Sam planted one of the family’s first vineyards, which today still stands as one of their main sources for wine grapes. Sam’s extensive history in the engineering and construction sectors saw him, with the support of his wife Maria, enter into a successful business partnership with three other Italian migrants to develop what is today the ASX-listed United Group Limited (UGL) – an internationally active company with an annual turnover in the order of $2 bn. Sam oversees the operation of the Castelli family’s various businesses and, like Luca, frequently lends a hand on the estate and in the winery with his trusty and well-conditioned toolbox. He’s also not shy of showing his truck driving ability and his friendly wine delivery service, where it’s not unusual to experience his personable approach and very Italian sense of humour!