Canonical: https://peninsulainsider.com.au/wine/quealy-winemakers/ Publisher: Peninsula Insider Published: unknown Modified: unknown Format: public main text, generated from the canonical page; imagery and interactive controls omitted. Dates and caveats below retain their page meaning; this format is not a new fact check. [Wine Country]() Winery [Balnarring]() Balnarring # Quealy Winemakers A foundational Peninsula producer best known for pinot gris, friulano, and a cellar door with real local soul. Known for Kathleen Quealy Pioneer Producer Pinot Gris and Friulano Program Pobblebonk Label Halliday 95-Point Winery [Book a tasting]() +61 3 5983 2483 Quealy Winemakers · Balnarring Why we’d go Quealy helped teach the Peninsula what it could grow beyond pinot and chardonnay, the cellar door still carries that experimental, unpretentious spirit. Quealy is important not because it is flashy, but because it helped teach the Peninsula what it could grow. Kathleen Quealy and Kevin McCarthy were early believers in alternative Italian varieties here, and the cellar door still feels grounded in that experimental, quietly pioneering spirit. The wines are distinctive, food-friendly, and often better value than the region's higher-profile labels. The Pobblebonk pinot gris is the place to start. This is where locals send friends who say they want to understand the Peninsula rather than just photograph it. Stop in before lunch nearby and buy a mixed six on the way out. Balnarring is slightly off the main wine trail, which is half the point. Worth knowing **Best for** Cellar door visits · Wine lovers · Food lovers · Local produce If you only do one thing Taste the Pobblebonk before you buy anything else, it's the clearest expression of what Quealy does differently. Works well with Hurley Vineyard · Balnarring Bakehouse Filed under Cellar Door Slow Garden Spring Summer Autumn All Year Locals Couples First Timers Winemaker Tom McCarthy Varieties Pinot Gris Pinot Noir Friulano Ribolla Gialla Chardonnay Worth seeking Pobblebonk At a glance **Type** Winery **Location** 62 Bittern-Dromana Rd, Balnarring VIC 3926 · [Directions]() **Call** +61 3 5983 2483 **Halliday** 95 Outstanding **Awards** Mornington Peninsula Wine Show Trophy **Website** [quealy.com.au]() **Directions** [Get directions]() **Opening hours** - Every day 10am–5pm **Live status** [Check current hours →]() **Winemaker** Tom McCarthy **Halliday** [Halliday listing]() [Book now]() Editor's verdict Quealy Winemakers was the Peninsula estate that kept asking awkward questions: why not Friulano, why not skin-contact Pinot Gris, why not Ribolla Gialla? Kathleen Quealy and Kevin McCarthy started the project in 2003, and the answer turned out to be: those varieties grow beautifully here. Son Tom McCarthy now makes the wines - amphora fermentations, certified organic viticulture, a range that would feel at home in Friuli. ## Visiting Walk-ins welcome daily 10am–5pm for groups under 6. Bookings preferred for larger groups. Wines by the glass. Artisan cheese plates and seasonal food pop-ups. No dogs. ## The wines **Key varieties:** Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Chardonnay. **Worth seeking out:** Pobblebonk. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does Quealy Winemakers take walk-ins or do you need to book? Walk-ins welcome daily 10am–5pm for groups under 6. Bookings preferred for larger groups. ### Does Quealy Winemakers have a restaurant? No formal restaurant. Artisan cheese plates available; seasonal food pop-ups include Sunday pizza and the La Petite Crêperie caravan. ### Are dogs allowed at Quealy Winemakers? No - the official website states 'We kindly ask no dogs'. Not sure how to build a day around Quealy Winemakers? [Search Peninsula Insider]() In the journal ## Stories that mention Quealy Winemakers These pieces give you the context a listing page never does - the when, the why, and the who-it’s-for. [Journal →]() Insider Edit 4 min ### [Insider Picks - 5 July: The Winter Edit]() 5 July 2026 Quealy Winemakers's winter kitchen, the Cape Schanck boardwalk at its most dramatic, and MPRG's current show before it closes. Cellar Door Dispatch 6 min ### [Quealy Winemakers: The Peninsula pioneer that still feels gloriously unpolished]() 2 May 2026 If you care about how the Mornington Peninsula became more than a pinot monoculture, start here. Quealy is not glossy and that is exactly the point - this is one of the region's formative tasting rooms, built on curiosity, Italian varieties, and a refusal to behave like a tourist estate. Cellar Door Dispatch 6 min ### [The Cellar Door Short List: Four Producers Worth the Stop]() 6 April 2026 Not the biggest estates, not the flashiest rooms. The four Peninsula cellar doors where the wines - and the people pouring them - actually change how you think about the region. More to explore ## Other wine experiences to compare [Back to Wine Country →]() Winery [Red Hill]() ### [Avani Wines]() 98 Stanleys Road, Red Hill South VIC 3937 Shashi and Rohit Singh's biodynamic family estate, one of the Peninsula's only serious Syrah programs alongside the Amrit single-vineyard range. cellar door slow [Read notes]() Winery [Merricks]() ### [Baillieu Vineyard]() 51 Stanleys Rd, Merricks VIC 3916 A thoughtfully managed Merricks estate making elegant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that rewards the drive to find it. cellar door slow [Read notes]() [Book]() Winery [Moorooduc]() ### [Barmah Park Vineyard]() 3007 Frankston-Flinders Rd, Moorooduc VIC 3933 A rustic, intimate cellar door running a five-wine, five-canape pairing from a hatted-standard kitchen, the most structured tasting format on the Peninsula. cellar door long lunch [Read notes]() Build a day around this ## Planning guides that include Quealy Winemakers Peninsula Insider guides that put this stop into the context of a full day or weekend. 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