(SMH) - One of the three brothers who transformed Yellow Tail wines into one of the great Australian export success stories has been charged over his alleged involvement in a major drug syndicate operating out of Griffith.

Marcello Casella, the youngest brother in Australia's largest family-owned winery, Casella Wines, is alleged to be part of the criminal syndicate that produced, distributed and sold commercial quantities of cannabis and methylamphetamine throughout southern NSW.

The 54-year-old appeared in Griffith Local Court on Wednesday after he was charged in September with one count of cultivating a large commercial quantity of a prohibited plant and one count of participating in a criminal group.

Police first raided a property linked to Mr Casella just outside Griffith, a town long synonymous with marijuana cultivation, in February. He was charged with offences relating to the improper storage of two pallets filled with shotgun cartridges and 60kg of gunpowder on the Yenda property.
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Two weeks later, on February 27, he ceased being a director of Casella Wines, leaving his two older brothers, Joe and John, as the joint directors of the business which exports some 12 million cases of Yellow Tail wine to more than 50 countries annually.

Mr Casella, a state champion clay target shooter who also owns one of only two ammunition factories in Australia, was charged with the more serious offences by the NSW Drug squad on September 22.