Legends and Trailblazers 2024: Drinks Producers, Retailers, Advocates

Mac Forbes marches to the beat of his own drum. The Yarra Valley native put a pep in the step of the region with a winery that has become renowned not just for chardonnay and pinot noir of great purity and elegance but as a place of experimentation and exploration. In shining a light on the Valley’s varied subregions and soils he has invigorated the concept of what Australian winemakers and wine regions can achieve. His skilled, intelligent, and sometimes risk-taking winemaking has paid dividends. His EB (experimental batch) label allows him to play and move beyond the classics and his Strathbogie Ranges riesling changed minds everywhere about what Australian versions of the variety could be. “It's always a relief if you're feeling overwhelmed or indecisive (or both) when handed a wine list to see the Mac Forbes label in the mix because you know then that you need look no further,” says food writer Michael Harden.

The non-alc movement is full of beverages that invite you to close your eyes and pretend it’s a ‘real’ drink. In the case of T.I.N.A, that’s entirely unnecessary. Combining the talents of tea maven Christina Trabucco and sommelier Imogen Hayes (who also happen to be cousins), they’re in a category all their own. The name might be an acronym for “This Is Not Alcohol’ but T.I.N.A’s three lightly sparkling flavours - based in tea infusions with a complex mix of botanicals, fruits, herbs and flowers – are more like sophisticated sippers that happens to contain no booze. Nailing their goal of making a drink that was delicious, well-balanced and above all, truly interesting, it’s not difficult to see why it’s been embraced by leading venues such as Embla, Brae and Public Wine Shop. “We didn’t set out to replicate a version of a drink that already exists,” says Trabucco. “It’s sort of its own thing – hard to define, but that’s how we like it.”