Jin Maekawa
Jin Maekawa is an Osaka-born, Limestone Coast-based winemaker whose Maekawa Wines label – released for the first time at the end of 2025 – arrives at an interesting moment: while much of the new wave in Australian wine looks to alternative varieties and making ‘natty’ wines, Maekawa has turned toward the classic reds of the Limestone Coast with fresh eyes and genuine conviction. The ‘VDT’ wine is a sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon blend from Padthaway and Coonawarra; the ‘RC’ a shiraz and cabernet from Robe – traditional varieties, traditional regions, but made with the sensibility of someone who came to wine through hospitality rather than inheritance, and who has no interest in making them the way they have always been made. Both are built for the table, deeply personal, and designed to remind you of a good time rather than demand your full attention.
