Certified organic. And then there were three… Kathleen Quealy and Kevin McCarthy wrote the manifesto on quality Pinot Grigio in Australia, and now we have a new chapter. Taking its name from the Latin for ‘wild sea’, Feri Maris is Quealy’s first single-vineyard Grigio and is drawn entirely from the estate’s organic Balnarring vines that were established in 1982. Here, the mature, dry-grown vines, shallow clay soils and restricted volume are some of the keys to the wine’s expressive character. Then there is the Balnarring climate, which brings flavour early, thus allowing Quealy to pick with freshness in mind.

In the shed, the grapes are whole-bunch-pressed and racked with partial solids. into stainless steel (70%) and French oak hogsheads (30%, half new) to ferment wild. Tom McCarthy notes that the use of partial barrel ferment and maturation is helping to frame the intensity of flavour and texture this site is now offering. Feri Maris sits at the pinnacle of Quealy’s Pinot Grigio portfolio, and you can expect a richer dose of mouth-filling fruit and more mineral steel in this bottling. Full of vitality and verve and dripping in character, this is a killer white from the OG of Australian Pinot Grigio.

The fruit for Quealy’s ‘Mornington’ label Pinot Grigio is sourced from all six of its dry-grown, low-yielding vineyards. The source vineyards include Musk Creek, Campbell & Christine and Hickson’s Vineyard in Balnarring—all sites managed by the Quealy team. Depending on the site location, harvest can occur anytime from the end of February through to the end of March. Fruit is always picked at optimal ripeness, and the style is confidently modelled on the finest Grigio from Friuli/Collio.

The grapes are whole-bunch-pressed slowly over 12 hours, and no sulphur was used at any stage of the winemaking process. Vinification was in stainless steel; partial malolactic fermentation was spontaneous, and the wine rested on its lees with no stirring for 6 months. Quealy wants to keep as much natural, chiselled freshness as possible, which beautifully complements the wine’s silky texture.

From a classical year , it’s another feather in Quealy’s Grigio cap: a fluent, pulpy-textured, coolly energetic wine that sits light-years away from Grigio’s bland, quaffing stereotype.

If you ask Tom McCarthy to describe the difference between his Grigio and Gris, he'll tell you Quealy’s single-vineyard Pinot Gris comes from higher vineyards. This means the grapes need to be left on the vine until late autumn to ripen, producing headier, fuller-bodied wines. Conversely, the Grigio comes from the warmer Balnarring sites where the fruit is picked earlier, and wines are racier.

This bottling is 100% estate Mornington Pinot Gris sourced from basalt-derived volcanic soils in the Musk Creek vineyard. The dry-grown, own-rooted vines were planted in 1997 and enjoy a north-north-east aspect. Perched at 200 metres atop Main Ridge, it overlooks Western Port and the heads, and the persistent, cooling breeze from Bass Strait ensures the fruit maintains freshness. The bunches are tiny and pink with excellent acidity, and the resulting wine is deep, spicy and mineral.

The ‘Alsatian-style’ press cycle is slow and long (six hours), capturing only the most delicate phenolics. The juice is then racked and mostly fermented (70%) in stainless steel, while the rest is transferred to French puncheons (in a new Stockinger barrel or two) to build weight, structure, and complexity. Stirring was kept to a minimum. From a brilliant vintage for Mornington Gris, it’s a delicious riot of pink and red fruits with some wild honey, slicks of spice and minerality and a lengthy finish. Its personality is really something.

After a series of challenging vintages, 2025 provided good fruit set and a superb ripening season with suficient water and little disease threat. This season allowed Quealy to produce their first late harvest Pinot Gris in many years.

The Gris comes from 0.4 hectares of their Musk Creek vineyard which sits high above main ridge (150 metres' elevation) on nutrient-rich basalt and alluvial soils. Throughout the season, the grapes became covered in noble rot (40-50%) and were carefull harvested in multiple passes in early May. The wine barrel-fermented on full solids before racking and sterile filtration. It finished at 196g/L with nice low alcohols. 

On the palate it shows a characteristic candied ginger note followed by ripe lemon and a crème brûlée depth. A burst of yellow florals bring a delicacy and lift to this otherwise unctuous wine. This can stand up to strong flavours, and would find itself most at home accompanying a well thought out cheese selection.

Managed by the Quealy team, the Tussie Mussie vineyard was planted on the site of a former rose farm in 2007 (hence the name—tussie mussie is an old term for a bouquet of flowers). Located in Merricks North, the vineyard’s three hectares of Pinot Noir and Gris vines are rooted in the Peninsula’s most prized soil: deep, red volcanic clays. Combined with the site’s northern location and north-facing aspect, these soils allow for slow ripening—key to developing complexity while maintaining bright natural acidity.

Hand-harvested in early March, the fruit was whole-bunch pressed using an extended cycle to extract gentle phenolics, then fermented on high solids and matured on lees in stainless steel. Twenty-twenty-five is as magic a vintage for its Gris as it is its Grigio. The Tussie Mussie leaps from the glass, with aromas of pear skin, quince, and jasmine, a touch of almond, and spice. The palate is finely weighted yet textural, combining ripe orchard fruit with taut acidity and a long, mineral finish. One sip of this tells you exactly why the Quealy and McCarthy clans are so highly regarded for their work with this varietal; there’s a subtlety and balance that many seek, but few achieve.

This year’s Balnarring Pinot Grigio is drawn from the and Hester, Campbell and Christine vineyards. Both sites are organically managed and lie less than 3 kilometres from the winery, where the fruit arrives within an hour of being picked.

In the cellar, the Quealy team uses only the most delicate portion of the press cycle, which means the juice yield per tonne tends to be extremely low. Like all Quealy’s wines, the ferments are wild, and while there is some bâtonnage with the Gris, the Grigio is left untouched, as Tom seeks to lock in tension and steeliness. With its aromas of nashi pear, citrus fruits and ripe stone fruit, this has a zesty, lip-smacking mouthfeel you rarely see in Australian Grigio. Yes, there is also plenty of textural depth to offset the freshness. The wine is sulphured and bottled unfiltered.