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Werkstatt
Bridget Mac
“Bridget Mac is singularly remaking the wine world. Not in her image but holding it to standards the rest of us do not even realise.
I stress: this is a release that has me breathlessly excited. Fine wine for the people. Read my unusually effusive notes below.”
— David
“David, your notes are always effusive!”
— Nick
“Well, even more so with these wines; much deserved.”
— David
I
Werkstatt 2025 Whitfield Gewurztraminer
(Shelf Price: $49.00)
Offer: $45.00
Dozen : $480.00 ($40/bottle)
“Every year for the past three years* Bridget Mac has turned out a wine that I consider to be a 'game-changer' in the Victorian wine world. In 2023 it was her Riesling, with brilliant acidity and an exceptionally bold 17g of residual sugar. In 2024 it was her Riesling Sekt, a fresh sparkling with ample complexity and memorable limestone/chalky minerality that to me rung the bell for a new style of sparkling in this country. In 2025 it is her Gewurztraminer. Sexy, spicy, lush wine is back. And it makes you think this time.
The Werkstatt 2025 Whitfield Gewuztraminer is a soft straw in the glass with the faintest suggestion of green. Maybe it is the varietal leading me astray but I detect a very faint viscosity difference between this and the 2025 Riesling. We are immediately in action with wonderful aromatic interplay: tropicality woven together with perfume oils with spicy exoticism. The former, with hints of lychee; then bitter-lush white-pink rose petals; then spiciness with hints of Kampot peppercorns. Air brings added dimension: apricot blossom followed by the fruit born from the same, blackcurrant leaf tincture, and alluringly elusive notions white strawberry. The palate has excellent, almost crystalline structure; brilliantly edging acidity kicking in late early-palate alongside minerality - the wine then courses across to a longer finish that starts to clamp down with pleasing bitterness. The fruit runs the full spectrum of apricot ripeness, from green and tart ‘jam fruit’ to the super-ripe deep
yellow-orange globes of autumn. White tending faintly pink strawberry follows, with a distinct 'sliced' quality; around this runs tracery of yellow Turkish Delight. I should single out the excellent phenolic qualities here. I stress 'qualities' as there is an intriguing sensation that blurs softness into hardness. Excellent.”
— David
(*I unfortunately missed the opportunity to purchase her innaugural Werkstatt 2022 Delatite Riesling)
II
Werkstatt 2025 Mount Gambier Riesling
(Shelf Price: $44.00)
Offer: $39.00
Dozen : $420.00 ($35/bottle)
“A bright straw-yellow with faint green highlights, the Werkstatt 2025 Mount Gambier Riesling coheres in the glass with air. There is a refracted quality to the aromatics here, the beholder is presented with lime leaf, crushed chalk, meadow flowers, candied peel. All these elements appear and recede as if coming from different olfactory directions. Time focuses these elements to notes of lemon icing (slight confiture) and pastry, smashed nectarine together with hints of yellow-green apples, gunsmoke and broken shells, brine and capers, and a dash of white pepper. This is a fulsome Riesling with a sensation of 'flattening' towards the finish; the wine broadens along a limestone shelf flecked with sea spray and bracing acid-led vibrancy. It is initially tight and angular, something of early Klee here; pungent accenting in the form of powerful lime peel and flesh, rocky minerals. The mid-palate has yellow apple, exotic spices derived from lime characters, and ripe nectarine which bring a
textural element as if sliced with a slightly pulping edge from a blunt knife. The finish has faint sucrosity alongside chalk and shells. Every subsequent revisit to this wine brings into conflict and resolve: rock sugar and black salt; faint earthiness. Piquancy, hinting at candied peppercorns and potentially Sichuan pepper, abounds on the close. Very fine.”
— David
~ also available ~
III
Werkstatt 2024 Mount Gambier Pinot Noir
(Shelf Price: $59.00)
Offer: $52.00
Dozen : $540.00 ($45/bottle)
“After spending our first few months sledging Australian Pinot Noir (with some notable exceptions) I feel I must walk back a few of my criticisms in the face of this eminently drinkable wine. Red and black cherry abounds with full support from rubbed sage; alongside are blood orange, mineral nuances (slight ore and shell hints), and some fragrant raspberry and rose petals. The palate is round, with integrated acidity and minerality. Raspberries and cherries in a melange, a hint of cherry pit, tarragon, and warm basalt rocks. Refreshingly limestone on the finish with the length bringing orange zest and shucked oyster shell tincture on the concentrated close.”
— David
If you would like any of the above, would like to come by for a private appointment, or just have some questions — please let us know.