Bring Back the Funk
Timo Mayer grew up in the Württemberg region of Germany, where his family have been making wine for more than 400 years. [^203^] It is a region heavy on tradition and full of small, family-run vineyards — four-in-five growers look after less than one hectare, and 80% of the harvest is processed in cooperative cellars. [^211^] But young Timo was restless. He didn't want to be a farmer and follow in others' footsteps. In 1987 he left Württemberg and headed out to explore the world. [^211^] After years of working in hospitality and "bumming around" tropical climes with his wife Rhonda — whom he met in Florida — a significant life event in 1993 forced them to get serious. [^211^] They moved closer to Rhonda's family in Melbourne, and Timo, who had run from wine in Germany, found himself drawn back to it. He studied winemaking at Wagga Wagga and fell hard for the Yarra Valley. [^203^] In the mid-1990s, the valley was making strong, robust wines that didn't reflect its cool climate. Timo didn't drink or want to make those styles. [^203^] He worked at De Bortoli under Steve Webber — one of the innovators reshaping Yarra Valley winemaking — then moved to Gembrook Hill, a small family operation using minimal intervention techniques. [^203^] In 2000, while still at Gembrook, he launched Mayer Wines. [^199^] Timo and Rhonda planted a 2.4-hectare vineyard on a steep slope and named it Bloody Hill — "because it was bloody steep!" [^199^] Today, Mayer Wines is a cult producer, constantly sold out, and Timo is known as the king of whole bunch fermentation in Australia — a technique he resurrected single-handedly and that has since been adopted by winemakers across the country. [^212^]
From Württemberg to Wagga Wagga
Timo Mayer's story begins in the Württemberg region of Germany, near Stuttgart, where his family have been making wine for over 400 years. [^203^] [^199^] It is one of Germany's finest regions for red wine, with Trollinger and Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) leading the charge, and Riesling reigning among whites. [^211^] But most wines from the region are light, fruity, and made for local consumption — "nothing too serious." [^211^] The easy road would have been to stay, learn his trade, and eventually take the reins of the family winery. But Timo was not interested in easy.
In 1987, at 18 years old, he left Württemberg to explore the world. [^211^] He worked in hospitality, travelled extensively, and eventually met Rhonda in Florida. [^211^] Together they spent years in tropical Australia — Cairns, far north Queensland — living an idyllic lifestyle of work and diving. [^211^] But in 1993, the birth of their first child forced a reckoning. They moved to Melbourne to be near Rhonda's family, and Timo confronted the question he had been avoiding: what to do with his life. [^211^]
Wine was still in his blood. He enrolled at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga to study winemaking, then looked for work in Victoria. [^203^] He visited both the Mornington Peninsula and the Yarra Valley, but fell hard for the latter — a love affair that continues to this day. [^211^] In the mid-1990s, the Yarra Valley was producing strong, robust wines that did not reflect its cool climate. Timo didn't drink those wines, and he didn't want to make them. [^203^] He found his apprenticeship under Steve Webber at De Bortoli, where a renaissance in Yarra Valley winemaking was underway — elegant, interesting, thought-provoking wines that spoke of place rather than power. [^203^] From De Bortoli he moved to Gembrook Hill, a small family operation producing some of the region's best wines using minimal intervention, back-to-basics techniques. [^203^]
In 2000, while still working at Gembrook, Timo launched his own label. [^199^] He and Rhonda planted a vineyard on the slopes of Mount Toolebewong, 8km south of Healesville — a steep, challenging site they named Bloody Hill. [^201^] [^199^] The first wines were Pinot Noir and Chardonnay — cool-climate classics that allowed Timo to showcase his unique style. [^203^] But it was a decision in 2004 that changed everything: Timo started using whole bunch fermentation in his Pinot Noir. [^203^] At the time, hardly anyone in Australia was doing it. Never one to do things half-heartedly, Timo went all in and made 100% whole-bunch Pinot Noir. [^203^] Some were sceptical. Others were excited by the complexity and freshness. Timo played a major part in bringing this technique back, and today it is used by winemakers all over the country. [^203^]
"There was a decade or two when we tried to make wines that didn't suit the region. Now we've gone back to what we are... Lower alcohol, medium bodied, aromatic wines... That's what we try to do."
— Timo Mayer
Bloody Hill — Red Rocky, Volcanic & Bloody Steep
Bloody Hill is a 6-acre (2.4-hectare) plot on the slopes of Mount Toolebewong, 8km south of Healesville, right in the heart of the Yarra Valley. [^207^] [^201^] "It's called that 'cause it's bloody steep!" says Timo. [^207^] The soils are red rocky and volcanic, with shallow gravel topsoil interspersed with broken sandstone over rock. [^207^] [^209^] Altitude varies between 300 and 470 metres, creating a relatively cool climate with some maritime influence. [^207^] Rainfall comes in winter and spring; summers are cool and dry. [^207^]
The vineyard is high-density planted, with Pinot Noir having the lion's share, and smaller amounts of Shiraz and Chardonnay. [^201^] The Pinot Noir vines are now over 20 years old, producing fruit of significant pedigree and depth. [^208^] The close planting creates competition between vines, resulting in smaller berries, more concentrated flavours, and finer tannins. This is not easy farming — the slope makes mechanisation impossible, and everything is done by hand. But the results speak for themselves.
Beyond Bloody Hill, Timo sources fruit from selected growers across the Yarra Valley. The Nebbiolo comes from the De Bortoli vineyard in Dixons Creek, on Humevale siltstones soils. [^209^] The Gamay is sourced from the Roundstone Vineyard and De Bortoli's Tarrawarra site. [^209^] [^199^] The Cabernet Sauvignon comes from a north-facing slope on Hans and Anna Orth's vineyard in Coldstream, and from a Yering site. [^199^] [^209^] Each site is chosen for its unique expression of Yarra Valley terroir, and each is farmed with the same attention to detail as Bloody Hill.
Farming is organic in practice — no synthetic pesticides or herbicides — though not certified. [^213^] The focus is on vine health, soil biology, and fruit that arrives at the winery with everything it needs to make great wine. As Timo says: "Wines are made in the vineyard." [^222^]
The estate vineyard — 6 acres on red rocky, volcanic soils at 300–470m altitude. [^207^] [^209^] High-density planting with Pinot Noir dominant, plus Shiraz and Chardonnay. [^201^] Shallow gravel topsoil over broken sandstone and rock. [^207^] Hand-farmed on a steep slope. Vines now 20+ years old, producing fruit of exceptional pedigree. [^208^]
Fruit sourced from the De Bortoli vineyard in Dixons Creek, on Humevale siltstones soils. [^209^] Also Gamay from the Roundstone Vineyard and De Bortoli's Tarrawarra site. [^209^] [^199^] These are some of the Yarra Valley's most exciting sites for alternative varieties, delivering the structure and complexity that Timo's whole-bunch style demands.
Cabernet from a north-facing slope on Hans and Anna Orth's vineyard in Coldstream, and from a Yering site. [^199^] [^209^] Timo applies his signature 100% whole-bunch technique to Cabernet — something almost no one else in Australia attempts. [^199^] The result is a wine more reminiscent of great Cabernet Franc than traditional Australian Cabernet Sauvignon.
"We believe that wines are made in the vineyard and therefore try to interfere as little as possible in the natural winemaking process." [^222^] No synthetic inputs. All wines unfined and unfiltered. [^222^] The focus is on expressing the true character of the land — "the true expression of the land," as Timo puts it. [^222^]
100% Whole Bunch, Unfined, Unfiltered & Zero Back Labels
Timo Mayer's winemaking credo is simple: "Bring back the funk." [^199^] [^222^] This is not a marketing slogan; it is a mission statement. In an era of clinical, mass-produced wines, Timo makes wines with character, individuality, and a little bit of chaos. He believes that wine is a product of nature that needs little to no interference, and he sees no need to bother with tasting notes, back labels, or descriptions of any sort. [^212^] "Just give 'em a go," he quips. [^212^]
The cornerstone of his approach is 100% whole bunch fermentation — a technique where grape stems are left in with the berries during ferment, adding unique flavour, texture, and structure. [^203^] Timo applies this not just to Pinot Noir and Syrah, but to Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, Nebbiolo, Merlot, Sangiovese, and Tempranillo. [^201^] It is a rustic, old-school technique that was hardly practised in Australia when Timo resurrected it. [^203^] Today, it defines his wines and has influenced a generation of Australian winemakers.
All wines are unfined and unfiltered. [^222^] There is no fining, no filtration, no acid adjustment, and minimal sulfur. [^207^] Fermentation is with wild yeasts. Reds are fermented on skins for three weeks in open fermenters, then aged in French oak hogsheads — a mix of 300L and 500L barrels, with roughly 20–30% new oak depending on the cuvée. [^207^] The whites are whole-bunch pressed, fermented wild, and aged on lees in old French oak, developing a unique flinty character from the granite soils of Bloody Hill. [^200^]
Timo's wines are polarising — and he knows it. "You either like the 100% whole-bunch style, or you don't," as one critic noted. [^199^] But for those who get it, the rewards are extraordinary: wines of incredible complexity, savoury depth, and aromatic intrigue that evolve for years in the bottle. The Dr. Mayer Pinot Noir — 100% whole bunch, 10 days carbonic, 10 days maceration — is a case in point: "The simplicity of the approach lies in stark contrast to the complexity of this sumptuous, medium-bodied expression." [^199^]
The King of Whole Bunch
Timo Mayer is widely recognised as the king of whole bunch fermentation in Australia — and one of the most gifted and idiosyncratic Pinot producers in the country. [^199^] [^212^] When he started using 100% whole bunches in 2004, hardly anyone in Australia was doing it. [^203^] The technique was seen as rustic, risky, and old-fashioned. Timo didn't care. "Stalky shit rocks!" was his response to the sceptics. [^212^] He was right. His whole-bunch Pinots — bright, perfumed, stalky, and complex — became cult wines, constantly sold out, and sought after by collectors and sommeliers around the world. [^212^] The influence has been profound: whole bunch is now standard practice across Australia's new wave of natural and minimal-intervention winemakers, from the Yarra Valley to the Adelaide Hills to Tasmania. Timo didn't just bring back the funk — he changed the conversation about what Australian wine could be.
A German Farmer with an Eccentric Mind
Timo Mayer calls himself a farmer. Others call him a genius, a rebel, an enigma, a force of nature, a legend. [^212^] The truth is probably somewhere in between — a self-proclaimed German farmer with a warm smile and an eccentric mind, who left a 400-year family legacy to forge his own path in the Yarra Valley. [^203^] [^212^]
He has influenced a generation of young winemakers — not through teaching or mentorship, but through the sheer force of his example. [^203^] His wines are impossible to ignore: they demand attention, they provoke debate, and they reward patience. The Dr. Mayer Pinot Noir — named after Timo's father, a doctor in Germany — is perhaps his most personal wine: 100% whole bunch, carbonic maceration, and a complexity that unfolds over years. [^199^] The 2021 vintage scored 96 points from Owen Bargreen, who called it "truly amazing" — a wine of incredible flavour density, verve, and stony terroir. [^209^]
In recent years, Timo has begun branching out with new varieties — Nebbiolo and Gamay, in particular — vines that many believe have an exciting future in the Yarra Valley. [^203^] He is also making wine in his home region of Remstal, Germany, reconnecting with the 400-year family legacy he once ran from. [^208^] [^219^] The future, as Timo would say, is getting funkier. [^211^]
Mayer Wines is a small farm producing handcrafted, single-vineyard wine. [^222^] There are no back labels, no barcodes, no tasting notes on the bottle. [^222^] The wines reveal themselves. "Just give 'em a go." [^212^] This is not a brand; it is a philosophy — one that has made Timo Mayer one of the most important and influential winemakers in modern Australian wine.
"Stalky shit rocks!"
— Timo Mayer
The Mayer Range
Mayer Wines produces a focused, single-vineyard portfolio from Bloody Hill and selected growers across the Yarra Valley. The range centres on Pinot Noir (in three distinct expressions), Chardonnay, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, and Nebbiolo — with the signature 100% whole-bunch fermentation applied across almost all reds. All wines are unfined, unfiltered, wild-fermented, and aged in French oak hogsheads. The style is elegant, medium-bodied, aromatic, and unmistakably funky — "a delicious wine for hedonists and intellectuals alike." [^199^] Prices are approximate and vary by market.