While McGarry’s wine journey began with his work as a sommelier, the name of his label stretches back further in his past, a tip of the hat to his time as a graduate student of Egyptology and teacher of ancient history in general. “The name of my label touches on the mystical notion around the search for the elusive headwaters of the great Nile river. But more broadly it references Egypt because that ancient civilisation had a deep history of wine production as part of their culture, which is quite often overlooked,” he says. “Everything from the past has links to the present. And winemaking is something that is so magnificently human, and that has continuously been carried out over millennia. Although some of the equipment now used is more modern, the way I strive to make wine is trying to keep the link with the ancient ways, and it’s a big factor in my love for this craft.”
McGarry’s brief period as a sommelier both deepened his love for wine and brought him face-to-face with the limitations of that career path. It was “a feeling I noticed within me that just didn’t sit right,” he says. “I was heading down the sommelier path. Completing WSETs and running wine bars. And the more exposure I had to the broader wine world, and the more I learnt, the more uncomfortable I felt whilst sitting there, tasting and critiquing these wines in front of me. They were made by people I had never met, who had inspirations and intentions I didn’t know.”
“I felt like I was a commentator, or journalist, who had never played a particular sport, critiquing professional sports players about their craft,” he continues. “I felt like I hadn’t earned that right. I knew at that moment that if I wanted to be involved in the world of wine, I had to get my hands dirty, and understand it from the ground up.”
To get those hands dirty, McGarry reached out to Jared Dixon of Jilly Wine Co. “All my foundational learning came from him,” McGarry says of Dixon. “I spent four years with Jared, with much of that in the sparsely spread vineyards of New England, including managing a super high altitude (1306 metres above sea level) block of Pinot Noir at Black Mountain near Armidale, alongside planting the first block of vines in Clunes where the Jilly winery is now. This region has a special spot in my wine heart.”
“I felt like I was a commentator, or journalist, who had never played a particular sport, critiquing professional sports players about their craft. I felt like I hadn’t earned that right.”
Perhaps repudiating his former life as an academic, McGarry’s approach is definitely anything but structured. “My journey is more hands-on than formal study,” he admits. “I truly just make wine in the styles that appeal to me. That governs my style. I’m not thinking about the market. If people enjoy them – amazing.” While he might not have formalised his winemaking studies, he’s shown great taste in mentors – after working with Dixon, he lined up vintages in rapid succession with Dan Graham of Sigurd in the Barossa, followed by Pooley and Peter Dredge of Dr. Edge in Tasmania.
The informal approach to education follows through to the wines, which are vinified with a light touch. The fruit sources are organic, biodynamic, or in conversion to these standards – “something very important for my label,” he says – and the wines are fermented by wild yeasts. Oak influence is minimal – old French oak hogsheads only, more for texture than flavour – and the sulphur regime is, too, topping out at 25 parts per million, applied only before bottling. “No fining or filtering,” he says. “I aim to rack as clean as possible and not have overly cloudy wines. But I’m not afraid of a little haze. I don’t want to filter away any of the goodness. After all, it’s a living beverage.”
If wine is a living beverage, then it won’t always do what you want it to – something McGarry tries to come to terms with. “I think acceptance is a big one, too,” he says. “Sometimes things are out of your control, so trying to keep a clear mind and focusing on what’s within your control is important.” He adds: “The nature of making wine along a lo-fi pathway is that you expose yourself to the potential of greater risk with ferments compared to more tightly controlled winemaking. If that happens, then I think the lesson is that it can be part of the territory of making wine in this way. There is risk, but there is reward, too. I notice an alluring sense of ‘aliveness’ in wines made in the fashion I aspire to, and a little more risk is the price of that.”
Taking this come-what-may approach means he’s interested not in what he can make the wines do, but how he can guide the wines along the path they need to take to be their best selves. “For example, I sourced a small parcel of Riesling from Eden Valley this year,” he says. “I had an idea of perhaps what stylistic path I wanted to go down earlier in the year, but as [I started] to see the growing season evolve, and then where the grapes [were] at picking, I’ve had to adapt my approach based on what’s in front of me. I do like this, though – not forcing my initial will on the outcome, but creating the space to be adaptive.”
“I truly just make wine in the styles that appeal to me. That governs my style. I’m not thinking about the market. If people enjoy them – amazing.”
“I don’t think I have uncovered any absolute rules around particular wine styles,” McGarry says. “Maybe when I’m further down the road of my wine journey this answer will change. But I like to be flexible with how to approach different wines each vintage.” Not that he’s devil-may-care in his winemaking approach: “A blanket golden rule is cleanliness,” he adds, “in all stages of winemaking and equipment use.”
He draws inspiration from his colleagues in the Barossa. “Having an arvo schooner at the local pub after a long day, and having grape growers, head winemakers from the big dogs, small lo-fi producers, restaurant operators popping in and out, all at the same table is something that has been incredible to witness and be part of,” he says. “There is an openness and cohesiveness to this region that is deep. Kind of like, everyone’s in this realm together, no matter your size, scale, or approach.”
While McGarry’s only just getting started as a winemaker, there are already themes emerging from his wines – ones that will no doubt go on to inform his future practice as a winemaker. One is skin contact for white wines. “My travels in Sicily really highlighted this for me from some of the producers there,” McGarry says. “Maceration on skins to create a more harmonious wine and expression of that particular variety.” Another is the use of amphorae. “Last vintage in Tassie I dabbled into amphora for the first time,” he says. “This year I have acquired my own amphora from Georgia.” His interest in amphorae brings his winemaking full-circle with his former life as an ancient historian. “The Egyptians, Romans and Greeks all used amphora also,” he says, “and this is a vessel type I have expansive goals to use into the future where I think their use suits the particular wine style.”
While it’s early days yet, McGarry has high hopes for that future. “I would like to keep expanding, and to reach a point to hopefully allow my wines to sustain my life,” he says. “But I certainly have a limit in mind of between 20 to 30 tonnes down the line. I don’t want to become a medium or big winery. I would like to keep it at a point where I am comfortable without being overstretched.” His thoughts circle back to New England, the special part of Australia where his wine dreams first came to life: “There is part of my future thoughts simmering around that,” he says. Whatever happens, though, his personal quest – his impossible search for the source of the Nile – will stay resolutely personal.
“To make wine is very personal,” he says. “And to share it even more so. The creation of this label allows me to be able to pop a bottle of my wine on the table with dear friends and new friends, pop a cork and share some good times, which I love.”
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