Quealy Feri Maris Pinot Grigio 2025

‘Pioneers’ is not a word we bandy around easily but it’s precisely the right term to describe Kathleen Quealy and Kevin McCarthy. This power couple were not only part of the early wave of growers to begin seriously exploring and planting the Mornington Peninsula in the early ‘90s, they were the producer to identify this area’s potential with Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio and their work with this variety made the grape a household name in Australia. Study trips to Collio (1995) Alsace (1998), and the pilgrimage to Josko Gravner (2006), each had a profound influence on Quealy and McCarthy’s thinking—and led to some of Australia’s finest, and earliest attempts at quality skin contact wines: an adventure that continues today.    

Now there is a generational shift at play with Tom McCarthy, the eldest son of Kathleen and Kevin starting to make his mark. The outstanding quality of recent Pinot Noir releases underlines what Tom is bringing to the table. Armed with a degree in Ag-Science, and vintages in Collio and Burgundy under his belt, Tom joined his parents in 2011 and has progressively taken on more and more responsibility.

The Quealy range is a many-splendoured thing. Four vineyards lie at the heart of the portfolio. The Home Block in Balnarring was planted in 1982 and has some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines in the Peninsula. This is also the home to Quealy’s oldest Pinot Grigio, and the aromatic varieties of Moscato Giallo, Friulano and Riesling, as well as some more recent plantings of Malvasia and Ribolla Gialla. A little Chardonnay from the original plantings also remains. As of 2019, the Home Block is certified organic.

Kathleen Quealy planted the Musk Creek vineyard in 1997. Perched atop Main Ridge, overlooking Westernport Bay and the heads, it’s the coolest site in the portfolio, bestowing exceptional late-ripening Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. On the red soils of Merricks North, there’s the Tussie Mussie vineyard, and back in Balnarring we have Campbell & Christine, again planted by Quealy (for the owners) in 1994. Each of these sites is managed entirely by the Quealy team and, with the current exception of Musk Creek, all are farmed organically.

There are four Pinot Gris/Grigio wines in the range, three of which are single-vineyard wines. Then there are two field blends from the Balnarring site—Pobblebonk and its skinsy, amphora-raised, alter ego; Lina Lool. Finally there are two Friulanos—also in straight-up and skin-contact style. All six reds are Pinot Noir, all single-vineyard wines save for the Mornington blend. This offering is topped and tailed by an excellent pét-nat and remarkable, botrytized Pinot Gris, modelled on the great late harvest Gris of Alsace.

Much of the narrative surrounding this producer focuses on the winemaking side of the story. But the Quealy team have also earned the right to be called pioneers for their recognition of potential in the region, establishment of organic practice and, the planting of previously overlooked varieties they believed would (and did) excel. All this in the early days of the Mornington Peninsula winegrowing region—some of the vineyards still managed by this producer were planted in the ‘80’s and ‘90s. - Distributor Note