A one-night-only wine dinner worth booking

Posted on 25 March, 2026

Mornington Peninsula’s Kathleen Quealy hosts Compa X Quealy wine dinner.

On Thursday 16 April, COMPA is hosting a Quealy Winemakers Dinner. Quealy are a most respected Mornington Peninsula producer, having grown grapes and made wine since the late ’80s. Theirs is a story of excellence, innovation, organics and discovery.

A four-course Italian menu paired with six Quealy wines, each dish’s flavours and texture complementing the wine in the glass.

Kathleen has selected single site wines that tell a story of terroir. It’s a young region, and there is still so much to discover.

What you’ll be eating

The menu leans into generous Italian cooking, with each course paired to a specific Quealy wine: Feri Maris Pinot Grigio, Musk Creek Chardonnay, Tussie Mussie Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir, Seventeen Rows Pinot Noir and Late Harvest Pinot Gris.

The evening’s menu includes arancini 4 formaggi, scallops with anchovy butter, duck lasagna, Angus striploin and  Basque cheesecake as the dessert.

Each pairing is designed to show how the food and wine work together, from lighter, brighter combinations through to richer dishes.

About Quealy and the Mornington Peninsula

Quealy makes a range of single-site Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. They also make very niche skin contact amber Italian varietals.

The wines of the evening offer a clear snapshot of the Mornington Peninsula. The region’s preeminent varieties are its Pinots, both Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. The most premium are the single-site wines because they are so distinctive.

Quealy Winemakers roots on the Mornington Peninsula – now the preeminent region in Australia for premium Pinot Gris – began in the late 1980s. Kathleen Quealy and Kevin McCarthy arrived just out of their winemaking degrees and established Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir vineyards for landholders keen to be part of the region’s early cool climate wine revolution. Those early decisions helped set the tone for what the Peninsula is now known for.

Kathleen was crowned “Queen of Gris” by James Halliday – a mantle she insists on sharing with her husband.

Since 2019, their son Tom McCarthy has led the winemaking, focusing on seamless quality from vineyard through to winery with a minimal intervention approach; their vineyard is certified organic. The important single-site wine continues to be harvested from vineyards established by Kevin and Kat in the 1990s.

If you’re heading to the Peninsula

If the dinner piques your curiosity about the Mornington Peninsula, a trip to Quealy’s cellar door is a must.

Their cellar door is built in the heart of the working winery, so tastings happen alongside the day-to-day rhythm of the vineyard and production. It’s a more personal experience, with the chance to talk through the wines and the sites they come from.

Alongside their single-site Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay, there’s also the opportunity to try a range of organic skin contact wines made in amphora, as well as share a simple cheese plate with a glass.

Each wine is tied to a specific vineyard, many of them planted or managed by Quealy since the late ’80s and ’90s, with its own story of site, soil and season.

Mornington Peninsula winery cellar door comes to Canberra

This Winemaker Dinner is a taste of Quealy’s cellar door experience without leaving Canberra.

The format will be relaxed and social. You can settle in, move through each course at a comfortable pace, savour the wines, and learn a bit more about them along the way.

It’s as suited to someone who already loves wine as it is to someone who loves a good meal with something interesting in the glass.

Dietary requirements can be catered for with notice, so it’s worth flagging these when booking.

It’s a rare chance to explore these wines side by side, with the food designed to match.