She is a one-off original, he is a clever winemaker of the highest order and together husband and wife team, Kathleen Quealy and Kevin McCarthy, like to shake things up big time. Their subversive winemaking is positively electrifying.
A field blend, why not? The result, Pobblebonk, will delight. Using ancient fermentation vessels like terracotta amphorae to ferment grapes? Yes, but why not go further and try it out on something altogether unusual like the friulano grape. A cool-climate muscat? Hell yeah.
A visit to Quealy is like a walk on the wild side, aided by two thoroughly enthusiastic guides. Quealy and McCarthy are known to many. They started T’Gallant at Main Ridge in 1990, pioneering pinot gris on the Peninsula, getting on board early with the grape variety that now threatens chardonnay in the popularity stakes. The couple sold T’Gallant to Fosters in 2003 and just recently McCarthy has joined his wife in her Balnarring project. Their son, Tom also works there.
They are risk takers, sure, but they have generally been proven to be right.
Pinot gris still plays a big part in their lives, but the exploration of grapes, such as muscat giallo and friulano, alongside chardonnay and pinot noir provides plenty of tasting pleasure. Jeni Port