matt rutherford — spencer hill
Matt has been with the Spencer Hill winery since its inception in 1990. For many years he worked with previous owner and founder Phil Jones as Assistant Winemaker, then Head Winemaker, before becoming Managing Director and now Owner and Consulting Winemaker. Matt is highly knowledgeable in the requirements of making kosher wines and also has a thorough understanding of the wine markets worldwide.
How did spencer hill develop into the success it is now?
Spencer Hill was established in 1989 by Philip and Sheryl Jones, who came to New Zealand from California to raise their family. I started then as a viticulture assistant, helping to plant the original vines, and worked my way up to head winemaker. I also helped Phil and Sheryl establish a vineyard in Washington/Oregon. My wife Janet and I bought Spencer Hill two years ago, so it’s been a 32-year journey to where we are now.
We all learned from scratch – I came from a farming background and Phil had done a university course on wine making. We just made a style of wine we like to drink and our first (1994) Chardonnay was the 1995 Air New Zealand Wine Awards Champion Chardonnay. Then our 1996 Chardonnay won Champion Chardonnay Worldwide at the International Wine and Spirits competition in London, so we had a baptism of fire!
What is unique about your winemaking style and philosophy?
We stick to what we know, we don’t follow fads and we make and sell wines that we want to drink ourselves. We won’t produce wines that we don’t want to take home and open! We also only make wines that we know we have a market for, rather than making a particular style and then trying to sell it - so it’s been slow but solid growth.
Five years ago, we decided to focus on winemaking rather than growing grapes, so two years ago we took the vines out – we now contract buy from growers within the region according to what we want to make. We still have a staff of seven, and we are one of the larger wineries in the region with 1.4 million litres of capacity.
We also have a point of difference in that we make Kosher wine for the Jewish market in the USA and around the world. This means we have a Rabbi observing the whole process of making these wines, and there are strict rules about hygiene and no animal products, so our wines don’t use dairy products for fining, or contain gelatine.
Tell us about the key people behind spencer hill
Janet and I own the winery, and I am also the consulting winemaker. Our in-house winemaker Jules Randall has been with us for 10 years and is a big part of what we do.
I work with Jules across the wine making process, blending decisions etc. We have a staff of seven, including our son and daughter, Greg in logistics, Leo, and Jules’ wife Jo in sales.
What are you working towards achieving in the short-long term for spencer hill?
We bought the winery just before Covid-19 hit so it’s been an interesting couple of years, both in terms of staffing and the way it’s affected the markets. Some markets increased as people drank more at home, but others like the hospitality market have been really affected.
We are focused on long term business stability, which means we’ll take opportunities when they arise and stick to our no-fad approach.
