Mac Forbes, Yarra Valley

Mac Forbes gained international experience in Australian and European winemaking before setting up his own winery in the Yarra Valley in Victoria. Now with 11 vintages under his belt, he is a well-known and hugely respected international name. He is totally uncompromising in his work. Mac’s philosophy is to concentrate on producing hand crafted wines from sites around the Yarra and Strathbogie Ranges where most of the vines are either leased on long term contracts, where Mac and his team look after all the viticultural practices. He has made a particular speciality of Pinots from different Yarra sub regions and looks for cooler sites, in particular those he feels are capable of reflecting a unique character to the wines. The scale of production of some of these individual sites is genuinely tiny – on a scale which allows foot treading to be a crucial part of the maceration.

He has become a good friend to Clark and Foyster and the rest of our team over now ten years!

Watch a video of Mac Forbes in his winery, talking about the 2020 harvest and the challenges of the Coronavirus lockdown:

Since Mac’s project to explore different vineyard sites began in 2005 there have occasionally emerged even smaller-production wines which are given a sequential EB number (Experimental Batch). These bottlings represent the best result from trials: e.g. single block vinifications, extended barrel maturations, extended skin contact, different field blends, lower yields.

We have a few odd bottles of the following so if you’d like to try a few bottles, please ask.