Winemaker Q & A: Matt Crutchfield
Meet a young Cali winemaker and hear how he found his dream job!
Hello! If you are just picking up the Grape to Table newsletter, thanks so much for joining to learn more about wine, food, and life. There’s lots to read – from my origin story (click here to read) to fun content focused on meaningful time at the table with delicious wine and food. For now, my newsletter is free and you can find all the content by clicking here – basically a little Grape to Table website created by the great folks at Substack. I did realize just last week when checking out this link on a friend’s phone that you only see the various categories of past newsletters if you open this link in a browser (rather than the Substack app). It’s a shame because the categories make it easy to find content you might be interested in…so here are some more embedded links! Click here for Wine Tips. Click here for Recipes. Click here for Q & As. As always I really appreciate when you hit the like button as it helps get the content in front of more people :) and spread the joy of wine and food!
Now without further ado, this week’s newsletter – a Q & A with an upcoming California winemaker and old, wine nerd friend – Matt Crutchfield! Apropos for this time of the year Matt makes a lot of skin contact aka orange wine, which just suits the fall vibe, right? And his new release is available on his website!
When I caught up with winemaker Matt Crutchfield on the phone, he was about to go jump in the Russian River in Sonoma, California. A nice way to cool off on a hot August day for sure, and quite the distance from when Matt and I first met. See, Matt’s wine story began in his home state of Virginia but then evolved here in Charleston, South Carolina where I met him around 2017 when I was managing a bottle shop/wine bar, and Matt became a regular. He worked at a couple of local wine establishments – Stems and Skins and Accent on Wine – and he was pretty deep down the wine rabbit hole. So I was not surprised at all when he announced his plans to apply for harvest jobs in California and move there for a season. I’ve known lots of folks to do this but…they usually move back. Not Matt. Sure he went to California with the intention of working one harvest and then returning to the hospitality industry; however, he caught the winemaking bug and went on to work harvest in New Zealand and then three more in Sonoma. Now he is assistant winemaker at acclaimed Ryme Cellars in Sonoma and has his own tiny project, Matt Crutchfield Wines. Matt describes his wines: “Wines made by a passionate young person of color….Though I love wine production, I can’t help but feel under-represented. Looking around and seeing very few people that look like me or have shared my experiences, but when I do see them, I am filled with pride. My intention to start my own business is not only to make wines that I am proud of, but to someday be the person that I would have wanted to see in the industry when I first started.”
Clearly, Matt’s story is intriguing, and he is a truly compelling person; so, let’s dive in!
Give us the short version on how you ended up working in wine and making your own wine…was wine part of your life growing up?
A little bit. My mom drank wine. But later in life. I think she started drinking wine when I was 19. I don't think she knew she had good taste but she was exclusively drinking dry riesling and Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. She's got good taste!
How about food? Did your family spend a lot of time cooking? Or eating out?
It was a lot of quick meals, not a whole lot of eating around a table. My mom was working so many hours every day. It was just her, my brother, and me.
Fast forward to more recent times…how did you come upon your first wine job?
I had been working in construction for a couple of years in Virginia (where he is from), and then the business folded so I started looking for part time work. And there was a Shenandoah Valley tasting room 10 minutes from my house.
And then what prompted your move to Charleston in 2016?
I moved to Charleston just to get a change of pace from the small town where I lived in Virginia. I applied to Stems and Skins (a wine bar in North Charleston) and since I had tasting room experience they decided to hire me. I was so underqualified so I felt I had to study really hard, and that was where my passion started.
And then what prompted your move to California in 2018?
I moved to Sonoma to work harvest at Merry Edwards because I wanted to understand what I had been reading about. I fell in love with production as it feels like a mix of construction and wine. Three weeks into it, I knew this is what I want to be doing: moving giant hoses and cleaning tanks. Hospitality is not my wheelhouse compared to this.
The camaraderie during the first harvest was also a big part of what made me want to keep doing it. You are in the trenches and everyone knows that it’s hard but there is a lot of empathy.
So about halfway through I decided to go to New Zealand to work their harvest (a few months later). It was really hard because I worked from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. seven days a week for six weeks. It was brutal. You feel like you're in a black hole and you have no idea what day of week it is or what month. But it was great because all interns did everything; we got to operate everything.
When I came back to California I was supposed to start an internship at Bedrock Winery, but I asked Merry Edwards for a part time job (in the meantime). They ended up offering me a full time job, and I worked there for two years. I used to go taste at Ryme every few months, and when they lost their assistant winemaker in 2021 they offered me the job. It feels like truly a dream job. They are nice, generous, and kind, and it feels like you are a part of their family. Also Ryme uses a lot of different varieties of grapes, which keeps it exciting. (In 2023 they used close to 20 different varieties.)
What year was it that you started making your own wine? And how many wines did you make that year?
I made my own wine for the first time in 2021, my first year at Ryme. Megan (co-founder/owner of Ryme) more than encouraged me; she almost demanded that I make my own wine. She asked what I wanted to make and I said Chenin (Blanc). She suggested I reach out to Mike Lucia at Rootdown Wine. He used to make a blend of Chenin from Clarksburg (a California wine region spanning three counties in the Sacramento Valley). Miike was basically my grape sugar daddy!
Give us your elevator pitch explaining Matt Crutchfield Wines.
The original idea was to harvest grapes from the same site and block at the same time and split into two different fermentations (one traditional white wine fermentation and one skin contact fermentation). This was less from a marketing point of view and more from an educational point of view. And I still intend to keep doing that to some extent. I am trying to find sites where I can do that a little bit better – trying to keep options open. But I am also making some red wine this year – some Grenache and Mourvedre from Shake Ridge Vineyard (in Amador County).
And you are still working with fruit from Clarksburg. What’s it like there?
Yes, I am all solo buying all the fruit myself this year. It’s pretty interesting. I texted my farmer to see if I could get more fruit and asked how things looked. He texted back: “Everything looks good and yep.”
Clarksburg is a lot less green, with a lot of loamy, alluvial soils. Every vineyard is dusty and beige. (He laughs.) But the region stays cooler than Sacramento itself.
So as you have said, a focus of yours is skin contact aka orange wine. Were you always into skin contact whites?
The Chenin that inspired me to drink white wines was skin fermented: Cédric Garreau’s Gareauvin from the Loire Valley, which I had at Stems & Skins. Unbelievably, six months into Stems & Skins and I was drinking only red wine. (Now Matt rarely drinks red wine!)
I am sure it helped that Ryme has always placed some of their emphasis on skin contact whites.
Yes, I knew I could ask them a million questions!
Diving into some big picture stuff, what are your thoughts on the state of the wine industry at present and any focused hopes for the future?
The state of the industry right now is pretty rough. People are buying less wine, which is a trickle up to wineries. It’s not great, and some will shutter doors. But there will be an equilibrium eventually.
As a small winery (300 cases) and having a full time job I am in an ok place. And I am at a full time job that is fun and supporting. But it’s tough. I want to see my friends happy and selling wine.
Also any advice to other young folks looking to break into the production side of wine?
It’s pretty easy to find a harvest gig. It’s typically two plus months of some very hard work but very communal, a lot of camaraderie. As far as producing your own wine … I am in a lucky position. I think a few harvest gigs will let you make a little bit of wine. They are few and far between but they are out there. So basically it doesn't hurt to ask.
Let’s wrap up our chat with a bit of daydreaming and discuss what would be your dream wine dinner/dinner party…
What would the location be?
I would probably do the cooking myself at my house. I assume some folks dream dinner would be to go to a fancy restaurant with a famous person, but I am so fulfilled in this community I live in. When I have people over it feels like a dream. I get to have my dream dinner all the time.
Who would you invite? Can be anyone – even those no longer with us!
I think a dream dinner would include my best friends Amanda, Vanessa, and Vinny (who distributes his wine here in Charleston). My one addition to that would be my grandmother who passed a couple of years ago. She would be very happy to see where I am now.
Wines – all California or from around the world?
I would probably do a mix. But right now I have a glass of Bird Horse Arneis in front of me. And Scar of the Sea Chardonnay would be a must. I think it's the best California Chardonnay. Through Ryme I have made so many friends who make great wines here in California.
But I would have to have a bottle of that OG Chenin that inspired me (Cédric Garreau’s Gareauvin) and a Jura Chardonnay. No red wine at my dinner (laughing). I appreciate wine pairings but I am more of I want to eat what I am craving and drink what I am craving.
And of course the food…give us all the details…and would you cook yourself or bring in a guest chef (can be anyone)!
I do a lot of recipe cooking and the other day I made this dill and allium heavy black eyed peas dish from Molly Baez’s cookbook More is More. (The official name of the dish is Dilly Beans and Burrata with Frizzled Shallots.)
She also has a chili marinated half chicken and potato skillet thing in the same book. I think both of these would be great dinner party foods. (The official name of the dish is Chile-Basted Half Chicken with Caper Chimichurri.)
And finally any thoughts on a playlist?
I play a lot of music. I am definitely the DJ during harvest. I love Khruangbin because it's mellow and chill. So I think Krungbin radio on Spotify.
Two extra questions…
Any other up and coming winemaker friends you would tell folks to check out?
My coworker Amanda and her brand Yarrow Wine Co. My friend Jill (Davis) makes really great orange wines, right now she has a 40 day skin contact Albarino/Verdelho for her brand Heaps Keen. Isabello Morano is doing a fantastic job with Isa Wines, her white-pressed Merlot was a highlight from her release party.
And finally what does your mom think of your wines?
She loves them!
P.S. Don’t forget to give us the details on the easiest ways to purchase your wine.
I can ship directly to a lot of states. So check out my website.
(And here in Charleston, his distributor says to look for his wines at Stems & Skins, Edmund’s Oast, Graft, Wine & Co, Rooted, and Costa.
(Currently, I have his skin contact Chenin Blanc on our bottle list at Edmund’s Oast for $62. And all our bottles of wine are half off on Mondays!)