Mac Forbes

YARRA VALLEY, VICTORIA

What The critics are saying:

James Halliday, The Australian: “Mac Forbes is one of the young guns of the Yarra Valley; he was winemaker at Mount Mary for several years before heading to Europe, returning in time for the ’05 vintage.”

‘2010 Wineries to Watch’, Wine & Spirits Magazine: “[Mac Forbes] is a young leader of the movement toward bright, fresh Yarra wines from cool sites.”

Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, March 2011: “Mac Forbes, good dude and modern day Bourke and Wills for the ‘elusive sites’, has done much for sexing up the Yarra Valley region’s ability to do great things with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. He fiddles, he fossicks, he sources, he has nice hair. Who doesn’t like nice hair?  Meanwhile, the wine itself is notable for finding that tenuous balance between herbal/cool climate influence and the pure, ripe, expressive fruit component.”

Our Notes:

Mac is simply a perfect fit for Bibendum because of the quality and style of wines he produces and because we share very similar philosophies and attitudes to wine in general. We also believe that Mac’s 2008 releases, some of which are listed below, marked a watershed for this exciting and innovative producer. What we love about Mac most is that he is obsessed with growing wines that strongly reflect the personality of his vineyards. Today Mac works with his dedicated team and with eight small vineyards in the Yarra Valley and Strathbogie Ranges. They encourage life in their soils and seek to pick balanced fruit so that manipulation in the winery is rarely (ideally never) required. The winemaking is ‘hands off’ – it’s all about letting the fruit shine through. Mac is also one of the leading figures in the search for Australian sub-regionality (or terroir). He has produced no fewer than five single-vineyard Pinot Noir in 2008, each from different 'communes' of the Yarra Valley. Most significantly, Mac’s wines are fresh, pure and a pleasure to drink.

Mac’s broad international experience has clearly informed the philosophies above. He has done stints in France (mainly Burgundy), Italy, Portugal, Austria and of course Australia where he was winemaker for Mount Mary.  His main influences have been the late John Middleton (Mount Mary), Dirk Niepoort (Niepoort wines, Portugal) and what he has learned through his consultancy work with some 30 Austrian producers (2004-2008 in Carnuntum). These experiences have helped Mac define his own ‘Euro inspired’ style and discover philosophies and methods that he could translate to the Australian landscape.