Log in for prices and ordering

MDI

From Australia’s Godfather of Pinot Grigio Kevin McCarthy, comes MDI (Murray Darling Italy), his passion project with a mission to change perceptions about how good wines from Mildura can really be.

As most wine bods know, Kevin McCarthy has a reputation for fine winemaking with a splash of rebellion. He’s constantly pushing boundaries and defying expectations – MDI is no different. It’s a collaboration with visionary grower Denis Pasut, a native Friulian and salt of the earth farmer who has been growing grapes in the Mildura region for more than two decades.

Kevin, Dennis and their mates and colab crew at Chalmers passionately believe that the region is untapped and brimming with potential—a place to allow your imagination to run wild. It’s a blank canvas of sunshine, cool nights and limestone, the perfect place to challenge the norm and pay homage to their Italian inspirations.

McCarthy’s solid reputation, born from his pioneering work with field blends and skin contact, lends serious weight and kudos to a place not often synonymous with greatness. His enthusiasm for the project and the region is infectious—never one to shy away from a challenge, he is committed to transmitting his Mildura message. The MDI wines offer great value, experimental and slightly wild wines—the talent with aromatic whites is on full display with special limited-edition releases from varietals we’re pretty sure no one has heard of.

Watch this space!

Available Wines

MDI Vino Del Borgo 2023

MDI Vino Del Borgo 2023

Vino del Borgo: the village wine. Inspired by the honest, delicious drops poured cuccinas and trattorias across Italy. You don’t ask too many questions, you just trust what’s in the glass. Grown across Mildura and Swan Hill. Handpicked. Left on skins a little. In barrel a bit longer. (Yes, it’s mostly Ansonica and Ribolla. But that could change next year. That’s the fun of it.) At MDI, we’re here to champion the Murray River region. Its sun, soil and spirit shape some of the most expressive, quietly brilliant wines in the country. Where else can you find such a mix of varieties, grown side by side? Where else is there this much freedom to play? Still, not every bottle needs a backstory. Not every pour needs a vineyard name.

MDI Vino Del Borgo 2023
MDI Pinot Grigio 2023

MDI Pinot Grigio 2023

Sourced entirely from the Pasut vineyard, the fruit was harvested in the cool of the morning and immediately transferred to the winery to be gently drained and pressed. The skins were darkly coloured and imparted a touch of colour to the juice over the four-hour press cycle. Importantly, only the purest free-run juice was used. Cool fermentation was followed by eight months on lees in stainless steel before clarification, cold stabilisation and bottling. It’s a simple winemaking sequence that lays bare the grape quality. The 2023 vintage provided the most powerful and complex Grigio fruit yet for the MDI wines, and that's reflected in the bottle. A home run!

MDI Pinot Grigio 2023
MDI Ribolla Gialla 2024

MDI Ribolla Gialla 2024

As in 2023, the 2024 season in the Murray Darling was marked by low yields and excellent quality. Aside from less-than-ideal yields, conditions were kind at harvest, which shows in the quality. This is the MDI wine most inspired by Joško Gravner, and it’s always the most seductive, hedonistic and texturally vibrant in the range. Ribolla Gialla is a grape that shines all the brighter when shown some skin-contact love. It appears relatively neutral in the vineyard, but give it some skin and it comes alive. The fruit was sourced from the impeccably managed Vanden Estate near Kings Billabong, Mildura, and spent 162 days on skins in stainless steel. The wine was then drained and transferred to three-year-old hogsheads for a few weeks before being bottled.

MDI Ribolla Gialla 2024
MDI Picolit 2024

MDI Picolit 2024

This Picolit is a jewell in the crown of the Pasut vineyard. This variety has small berries, small bunches, thick skins and great intesnity. The grapes were hand-harvested and foot-stomped as whole bunches. It got 18 months in seasoned large-format oak before racking and bottling. 

MDI Picolit 2024
MDI Sangiovese 2023

MDI Sangiovese 2023

Fruit for MDI Sangiovese comes from Denis Pasut’s well-established vineyard in Mildura. The 2023 season was cool and long, delivering low yields of top-notch, flavourful, complex fruit in pristine order for winemaker Kevin McCarthy to work with. The grapes were destemmed and fermented in tank. Maturation was for 16 months in seasoned barrels. The wine was tasted and topped regularly to maintain freshness and regularly racked to promote aromatic complexity via exposure to oxygen.

MDI Sangiovese 2023
MDI Grillo 2023

MDI Grillo 2023

Grillo is a white grape variety native to Sicily. It is primarily known for producing Marsala, a fortified wine. Thought to be a cross between Catarratto and Zibibbo (Muscat of Alexandria), Grillo thrives in Sicily’s warm, volcanic soils – and, as fate would have it, Mildura. MDI’s Grillo is grown at Vanden estate on VSP trellised vines (unusual for the region), and the site is farmed with sustainability in mind. The vineyard backs onto Kings Billabong, which provides some moderating cooling effects during the growing season. This 2023 ‘skins edition’ spent 170 days on skins before being pressed to old barrique, where it rested for five months—100% malo, bottled unfined and unfiltered.

MDI Grillo 2023
Show All

IN THE PRESS

"MDI Wines is a celebration of winemaker Kevin McCarthy’s enduring love affair with the people, land and wines of the Murray Darling. His first up-close, hands-on grapes experience occurred in ’02 when he bought Murray Darling sangiovese to fill otherwise empty tanks after a disastrously small vintage on the Peninsula at his then winery, T’Gallant. Ever since he has returned to Mildura to work with growers and winemakers on projects like T’Gallant’s Juliette, Quealy’s Fionula and a little-known project, TGQ. With MDI – the name comes from the postcode for greater Mildura, 3501, which translates in Roman numerals to MMMDI – he embraces the alternative grape varieties of the region to create approachable skin-contact wines." Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion

Country

Australia

Primary Region

Murray Darling, Victoria

People

Winemaker: Kevin McCarthy

Winegrower: Denis Pasut

Availability

National

While you're here