If our conversation with Bridget Mac left you wanting to know more about her craft of winemaking and collaboration with other creative minds, pour yourself an extra glass and tune in to this bonus episode following on from episode 2.
[00:00:00] Welcome to a special Behind the Wines bonus question episode. If you enjoyed our conversation and wanted to hear a little bit more from today's guest, you're in the right place. These are the extra questions, stories and moments that didn't quite make the main episode, but were far too good to leave behind. So if you're keen to dig a little deeper, hear a few more laughs and get to know the person behind the wine just a little bit better, pour yourself a glass and enjoy this bonus conversation.
[00:00:25] Do you see parallels between art and winemaking, things like composition, timing or the way they both capture light and atmosphere? Yeah, I do see a lot of parallels with art and winemaking. Mostly it's about making the essence of something, capturing the essence of something and how that can be a fleeting moment.
[00:00:51] Like making a photograph, for example, it's capturing a fleeting moment. Wine making can be, in a sense, the same. You're capturing a moment in time from a site and putting that into the bottle and that will never be the same again. So I see comparisons in that sort of respect.
[00:01:15] I like to think that when I'm making a wine, I'm making something that is beautiful and will be appreciated like an artwork. It's for me, more than, I might have just said this earlier, but for me it's more than creating just something that's something that people drink, just a product. It's more layered and nuanced than that.
[00:01:40] So definitely when I create an artwork, I'm thinking about the same things. I want it to be beautiful and invoke a conversation. I can see your point because I guess when you put so much time, effort, even your artistic ability, your skills, that you want it to be more than just a drink. Yeah, I think so. I always have my heart on my sleeve and put everything into what I do, whether it's making art or making wine.
[00:02:10] So, yeah, there's definitely a part of me in that. And, you know, there's that vulnerability there with all my wines that I put out into the world, as it would be if I was making an exhibition or putting something on. Yeah, it's more than just getting it out there into the shop. There's something really personal and unique about the wine, which I can't.
[00:02:36] It's a very hard thing to explain, but I think if you really, if you also have a passion about something and you're really committed to doing something, you will know this feeling. It makes perfect sense to me. And I think that separates in all professions what makes you something adequate to the great. Thank you. You've joined FEMIA Crew to support FEM and LGBTQIA plus people in wine and hospitality.
[00:03:06] Why is that representation important to you personally? It's important to me personally because I'm a woman and identify as that. And I guess I've grown up in these industries which have always been male dominated, going from the photography world into the wine world, the historically very male dominated industry.
[00:03:28] So to be able to support other people in the wine and hospitality industry who may feel like they're underrepresented or maybe have a bit of a hard slog to get where they're going is hugely important. I guess it's coming back to that, the name of Werkstatt and this idea of collaboration and working with people.
[00:03:53] It's a really important thing to me and something that I really take quite seriously that we're not here on an individual journey. We have to help each other and work with each other to, you know, make these industries as best that they can be and as welcoming that they can be for people who may not come from that sort of background where they've had everything handed to them on a platter.
[00:04:21] So given from that collaborative experience, it sounds like you're hoping to foster a kind of a new community in terms of your wines and work. Is that right? Absolutely. Yeah. Fostering community, creating community too. Definitely fostering community is important and building more than just a brand. Obviously, what I do with Vermeer Crew is quite different to what I do making wine, but it's about bigger things than just making a product.
[00:04:51] As I said earlier, it's about making an industry better and more resilient and more open-minded. And I think it's not just for me with Werkstatt, it's not just about that community, but also interplaying my art background into the winemaking process and collaborating with artists as well and still having that sort of connection to the art world with my wine.
[00:05:19] And I guess by example, with the 2025 Riesling, this year I've collaborated with an artist on the back label of the wine. They've written a poem for the wine. So that was specifically made just for that wine and just these things where I can sort of bring in other components of other worlds and sort of mesh them together and sort of create this layering effect like that. Just like a nice sort of interplay with the layering of the wine and things.
[00:05:48] So, yeah, there's lots of ways that I like to sort of push the boundaries of what wine is and what the industry can sort of handle and what's interesting. And, yeah. I guess expanding community brings new ideas, innovation, which can only be good in a process. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:06:15] I think when you can't bring new ideas or innovation, things get stagnant and they become boring and just people will lose interest. Yeah. So it's exciting and fun and important to keep pushing boundaries and try different things. I like the idea of a poem. Actually, I was just thinking that it's funny you say that. I was thinking about poetry while you were talking and then you sort of mentioned it.
[00:06:45] So it was nice. And I relate to one of my favourite pictures I have is I was in Margaret River at Lewin Estate, but I was drinking the vintage in front of the painting over the fireplace. It brought just two passions of mine together. And I just thought this is how lovely is this. People think it's daggy, but I love it. I love it too. Yeah. And not everyone's going to turn the bottle over and read the poem, but the right people will.
[00:07:13] And that's who it's there for. So following from that, as someone who's blending art, craft and inclusivity, what do you hope the next generation of winemakers will take forward? Well, I hope the next generation of winemakers can actually make wine with the changing climate. It's kind of it's a little bit scary.
[00:07:39] And even my generation of winemakers, you know, having this conversation with my husband the other night, like what is going to happen? Everything is kind of a little bit scary and we don't know.
[00:07:51] I just hope if we are still making wine 50 years from now that we can do it with a better understanding of how to look after the vineyard and the planet and really, yeah, focus on having a more sustainable system of doing, of making wine.
[00:08:14] Sustainability is really big in winemaking and look, sometimes it's a buzzword, but I often think that really the sustainability of the planet is first and foremost for the longevity of the industry. And that's a wrap on our Behind the Wines bonus questions. Thanks for sticking around for the extra stories, laughs and insights that didn't quite make the main episode. If you enjoyed this little bonus pour, don't forget the full bottle is waiting for you.
[00:08:38] Just head to the Behind the Wines website or your favourite podcast platform to catch the complete conversation with today's guest. Thanks for listening. Until next time, keep your glass half full. Cheers.