Mentions in the media
24th June 2024
Winetitles Media - BEST NEW ACT
“Bridget Mac, Werkstatt Wine (VIC/SA)
As the creative force behind Werkstatt Wine, Bridget is an artist turned winemaker. Her debut Riesling and sparkling Riesling (pet nat) have wowed judges, combining European sophistication with New World terroir. Produced in the underappreciated region of Mount Gambier, her debut wines put her centre stage as a future rockstar of the industry. Inspired by Old World regions like Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, she infuses a European flair into her wines made from Australian grapes.”
21st June 2024
Winner - Young Gun of Wine ‘Best New Act’ Award
The Young Gun of Wine Best New Act award goes to a first-time finalist in their winemaker awards who is making a profound impression.
“The Best New Act is an award to single out the hottest new wine label. “Best New Act was a real thrill this year,” said Stock. “Bridget Mac’s Werkstatt project just lit up the room from the get-go. Rarely is wine this utterly delicious and thrilling.”
11th of April 2024
Australia’s Best Young Wine Labels & Winemakers in 2024
Werkstatt Wine - Finalist in the Young Gun of Wine Awards
The Young Gun of Wine Winemaker Awards is a showcase of emerging and inspiring Australian winemakers under 40 years old.
“Bridget Mac, the creative force behind Werkstatt Wine – with a focus on Riesling (thus far) – embodies the spirit of an artist turned winemaker, melding her passion for German, Austrian, Swiss wines with the distinct terroirs of Australia. Her label debuted in 2022 with releases including a Riesling and a Pétillant Naturel Riesling. A Pinot Noir to be released in due course from the 2024 vintage.”
15th of December 2023
Young Gun of Wine - Deep Dive - Australia’s Best Pét-Nat
2023 Werkstatt Pétillant Naturel Riesling Mount Gambier
“Vibrant lemon with green hues,” wrote Andrea Infimo in giving this a top-six berth. “Very focused nose, extremely fresh with notes of lemongrass, lime pith and tart yellow grapefruit. Dry, acid-driven palate with well-managed phenolics and a non-intrusive autolytic note that adds savouriness and almost becomes one with the phenolics.” We are prizing a really well-made bone-dry style here that shows energy and balance and some weight without needing the support of sugar.
October 2023
Werkstatt Wine wins bronze at the ‘23 Limestone Coast Wine Show
2023 Werkstatt Riesling Mount Gambier
Score 88 points - Bronze
27th of October 2023
Young Gun of Wine - Wines of Now - Wines We Love
2023 Werkstatt Pétillant Naturel Riesling Mount Gambier
“The second release from Werkstatt sees a pét-nat join the roster, and what a vibrantly racy wine it is, rippling with citrus, apple and floral notes and driven by bracing acidity that is cushioned by pulpy texture.
From Riesling specialist Bridget Mac, this is her first take on the grape as a pét-nat. That decision to go the bubbly route was informed by the racy drive of both the cool, windswept location (from an organically farmed, though not certified vineyard) and the doubling down of a particularly cool vintage. The second release from Werkstatt sees a pét-nat join the roster, and what a vibrantly racy wine it is, rippling with citrus, apple and floral notes and driven by bracing acidity that is cushioned by pulpy texture.
Tasting note
This has an agreeable haze to it with a lemony hue, and that citric theme carries through to the nose. More lemon than lime, with crisp barely ripe golden apples, yellow grapefruit pith and white florals. Super zesty and bright the palate is fleshed out with the pithiness of that leesy sediment (it provides the haze), giving mid-palate flex, before a whip crack of acidity drives things home with achingly pleasant mineral dryness.”
27th of October 2023
Young Gun of Wine - Wines of Now - Wines We Love
2023 Werkstatt Riesling Mount Gambier
“This is thrilling stuff. Scented with lime, tart grapefruit and wet stone. A small amount of unfermented grape sugar is electrified by the acidity, gifting weight and texture while drying out through the considerably long finish.
Bridget Mac’s choice to make a pét-nat in 2023 due to the cool vintage and intense acidity also saw her opt for a little more balancing residual sugar in her still Riesling than her debut vintage (that was from Victoria, though). The result is a wine that sits at a 10.5% alcohol with about 17 grams of sugar per litre, but it’s easily swallowed by that acid drive. From a cool vintage and a cool region, this is thrilling stuff, scented with lime, tart grapefruit and wet stone. The small amount of unfermented grape sugar is electrified by the acidity, gifting weight and texture while drying out through the considerably long finish.
Tasting note
A wine that sits at a 10.5% alcohol with about 17 grams of sugar per litre, but it’s easily swallowed by its acid drive. That kick of sugar also transforms the nose, with the rapier citrus notes of the pét-nat accompanied with elements of pink grapefruit pith, green apple, makrut lime zest, brine and wet stone. There’s an understandable generosity to the front palate, but that’s mustered into a drilling line with the aforementioned crispness.
14th of October 2023
The Wine Front - Petillant Naturel Riesling 2023
“No gush. From organic farmed grapes in Mount Gambier. Bridget Mac the winemaker delivering some striking wines from this fresh project.
Superb pet nat that finds quiet complexity, strong saline scaffolding, a touch of yeasty, nutty savouriness and a course of scintillating riesling citrus and floral character. Tightly wound with tiny, persistent bubbles, vivacious in scent, crisp and very, very refreshing to drink. A stellar sparkling wine of energy and deliciousness.”
- Mike Bennie
Rated : 94 Points
Tasted : OCT23
Alcohol : 11%
Price : $35
Closure : Crownseal
Drink : 2023 - 2025
5th of September 2023
The Wine Front - Werkstatt 23 Mount Gambier Riesling.
“Bridget Mac is the winemaker, focusing on a single release again of Riesling. The 2022 was outstanding, this follows suit. The cooler growing season saw Bridget hold on to some residual sugar (17 grams) to produce a ‘Kabinett style’. The growers are in Mount Gambier for this release.
It’s a brilliant, crystalline, acid driven style with poise and precision writ large. Sure, it’s a huge squeeze of fresh lime, a lick of honeyed undertow plays a card, but the compact, rapier thrust of Riesling is all there and the finish a mix of powdery, brine-and-talc-like minerality woven through juiciness and a faint tickle of sweeter, lime and green apple fruit character. It’s layered, complex, mouth-watering and refreshing while still being off-dry and ‘wow’ in its ballistic drinkability. Stellar wine, should be shouted from hill tops.”
- Mike Bennie
Rated : 95+ Points
Tasted : SEP23
Alcohol : 10.5%
Price : $33
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2023 - 2035
9th of June 2023
Vision Australia Radio - Vine to Wine: Bridget Mac Werkstatt.
“From award winning fine art photographer to winemaker, hear what influences Bridget's wine.” Bridget Mac talks with Peter Madden about the project so far.
Vine to Wine is a weekly radio program on 99.5 FM in Geelong, it reveals the secret that is vineyards and wineries in the Geelong, Bellarine, Moorabool Valley Region and beyond. Each week a different winery owner or winemaker is interviewed in a 30 minute program.
15th of October 2022
The Wine Front - Werkstatt 22 Delatite Riesling.
“A first release from a fresh-as wine producer, Bridget Mac, who has worked her way around a bunch of interesting wineries pursuing wine knowledge and experience. The fruit comes from (a biodynamically managed) Mansfield vineyard and sourced very specifically for soil profile as Bridget prefers wines off granite. A lick of residual sugar lends character.
Well, that’s a stunning first release. Nails it. Texture, gentle fruit sweetness, steely acidity, pulsing minerality and a very strong sense of racy, pristine riesling. Scents of warm slate, tart lime, lemongrass and faint honeycomb, flavours race through the palate similarly but with poise, energy and persistence, as other things to say. There’s a lot of fine detail and a strong sense of complexity right here. In a few less words, bloody delicious.”
- Mike Bennie
Rated : 95 Points
Tasted : OCT22
Alcohol : 11.5%
Price : $32
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2022 - 2030
