Kevin McCarthy
Australia
Kevin's Wines
- Australia
- 4 wines
- 3 styles
The Father of Aussie Pinot G!
- Kevin's award-winning winemaking career spans decades and his success is largely thanks to his silky talents and his steely courage. Widely recognised as the founding father of Pinot Gris/Grigio in Australia, Kevin McCarthy is, and always has been, a rebel - a deadset heretic.
- Taught by the masters in Alsace, France and Collio, Italy, he's helped change the Australian wine landscape as we know it. Kevin was encouraged by his mentors to take risks, experiment and ignore fear. As a result, his first venture many years ago, the famous T’Gallant winery put the Mornington Peninsula wine region firmly on the map. It was there, in 1993, they released their first Pinot Grigio and the Aussie Pinot G revolution was underway!
- Liberated by Angels in 2013, Kevin continues along the path less travelled, inspired by winemaking experiences around the globe. For the past twenty years he's travelled Victoria and South Australia looking for special vineyards and uses premium fruit from the Mildura region as well as the Mornington Peninsula in his fabuous wines.
Vineyard Location
Kevin McCarthy's Story
Kevin's story
Kevin started T'Gallant in the Mornington Peninsula together with his wife, fellow winemaker Kathleen Quealy, back in 1988. It was here they had the radical idea of planting Pinot Grigio - then unknown in Australia.
Word of the burgeoning Mornington Peninsula region with its cool maritime climate piqued Kevin’s interest and, along with Kathleen, they knew that Australia finally had the ideal home for Pinot G.
Waves of dogmatic dissent crashed around from within the winemaking fraternity, the regime ruling Gris as Pinot-non-grata. The heresy of Pinot G was born. By the grace of the general public, who arrived with open minds and non-partisan palates, Pinot G is now recognised as a significant Australian speciality.
Liberated by Angels in 2013, Kevin, ever the heretic, continues along the path less travelled, inspired by winemaking experiences around the globe in Alsace at Domaine Paul Blanck, and in Barolo at Pira. For the past twenty years he's travelled Victoria and South Australia looking for special vineyards. He considers the Murray-Darling, unsung hero of the Australian wine industry, the most important region for him outside of his Mornington Peninsula home.
He continues to combine the best of old world tradition with Australia’s culture of innovation. Be it a natural approach, extended skin contact, or establishing a new variety, Kevin has the fervour and savoir-faire to remain at the forefront.
