Tom McCarthy (right) with Kevin McCarthy. Quealy Wines
Generational change, such an important feature of venerable family wineries in France and Italy, is increasingly seen in the Australian wine scene.
Tom McCarthy, son of the dynamic duo Kathleen Quealy and Kevin McCarthy—founders of first T’Gallant and later Quealy Wines on the Mornington Peninsula—is gradually taking over more responsibility from his parents. Tom has been deeply involved at Quealy for quite a few years but is increasingly proving himself. If you ask who’s the winemaker and who’s the vineyard manager at Quealy, a shrug is the likely response as this family shares the duties and everyone does a bit of everything.
The latest crop of wines sees Quealy at the top of its game. I tasted five 2022 pinot noirs, all of them delicious.
Until recently Tom was also a partner with his friend Lucas Blanck (son of Frederic Blanck of Alsace) in the Peninsula micro label Kerri Greens, but Tom recently gave up his share in the business so that he could focus on Quealy.
Those with memories will recall that while at T’Gallant, Quealy and McCarthy pioneered pinot gris on the peninsula and could claim to have kick-started what is now a very important segment of the white wine market. They also inspired the fashion for unwooded chardonnay, although the noise-level about unwooded chardonnay dissipated fairly quickly: it could be argued that ‘unwooded’ was a negative word, or that chardonnay made without barrels might have seemed to be short-changing
This Article was originally published on The Real Review
