A self-described soil-geek, Matt Dees embodies the concept of winemaking in the vineyard and comes to work every day eager to learn from the two estates he oversees in Santa Barbara County. "As a winemaker, people find it surprising that my true passion is walking the vineyards, rather than being in the cellar" says Matt. "To make great wines, my job is to cultivate estates with a voice worth listening to. I want to spend as much time as possible in the vineyard, not hunched over a fermentation tank."
A native of Kansas City, KS, Matt was always drawn to nature. As a child, sitting in left field, he recalls being absorbed in studying the flowers while baseballs flew overhead. Years later, he enrolled in the University of Vermont to study plant and soil science. During the fall of his freshman year, he began work at Shelburne Vineyard in Vermont, helping Ken Albert to plant the site. It was here where Matt began to realize how wine represents the perfect confluence of soil and grapevine.
Matt’s epiphany to explore winemaking beyond Vermont came during his senior year. “Working the freezing vineyard in the dead of winter, I realized there must be a better place in the world to make wine.” The following week, while visiting his older brother in New York, Matt purchased what would become a life changing bottle of 1995 Staglin Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon at Sherry-Lehmann. Over dinner one evening, Matt noticed the phone number on the back label and dialed up Shari Staglin to express his interest in a job. Despite Staglin’s decline, Matt booked a flight and a week later arrived unannounced at the winery, where Winemaker Andy Erickson offered him a position on the spot.
Matt worked at Staglin for three years, splitting his off seasons working with Doug Wisor at Craggy Range in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. Upon the conclusion of the 2004 vintage in New Zealand, he received a phone call from Erickson, informing him of an opportunity for a winemaking position at the new JONATA estate, where he had been consulting. “By then I was looking beyond the Napa Valley,” recalls Matt. “I fell in love with Santa Barbara for its wild edge, the opportunity to help explore and define an emerging region at a very special estate.”
Matt was hired as JONATA’s first winemaker at the age of 25. His innate sense of curiosity and deep passion for the land made him a perfect fit for the unique wine estate; here he could forge an original path which was authentic to the Ballard Canyon region and true to its unique ecology. Under Matt’s leadership, in 2008 JONATA expanded into chardonnay and pinot noir winemaking from Santa Barbara’s cool-climate coastal vineyards under The Hilt label. In 2014, with the acquisition of The Hilt Estate in the southwest corner of the Sta. Rita Hills, the winery had further established its presence in the region and found its true home for chardonnay and pinot noir production.
Throughout his time at JONATA and The Hilt, Matt, along with the winery team, has tirelessly sought to understand how to best farm and make wine from these two unique estates. By employing the highest possible farming practices and striving to radially express what he considers to be two of the world’s most interesting and exciting places to make wine, Matt has helped elevate the prestige of Santa Barbara winemaking on an international scale with the JONATA and The Hilt wines.
Matt is a panelist for The Pinnacle of Pinot Noir: Explore the Grand Cru Vineyards of the West Coast on Friday, February 28 from 9:30am - 11:30am.
