Picolit is a notoriously difficult grape to farm. It has a reputation for poor fruit set and dismal yields, but that might not be such a bad thing in Mildura. As opposed to the more bumper crop levels sometimes reached in the Murray Darling (10 tonnes per acre is not outside the norm), the most you can hope for from Picolit is about three tonnes to the acre. We don’t need to tell you what this means for quality. It’s a rare variety, even in its native Friuli, with small bunches of thick-skinned little berries of a sun-flecked, golden colour. The fruit was picked from Denis Pasut’s vineyard in Mildura in early March, destemmed and left on skins until the last day of winter. The wine was pressed to a couple of seasoned hogsheads, where it again rested, undisturbed, until bottling in July 2024.

McCarthy has a reputation for innovation and rebellion in wine. He rose to prominence alongside his partner introducing Pinot Grigio to Australia in the 1990s. Together they left to build Quealy Winemakers whilst he continued to work for Treasury Wine Estates. His numerous trips to Europe including Eastern Europe accelerated his knowledge of skin contact white wine and letting viticulture and winemaking hang out with reality and village culture. Grow it, make it and love the way it is.