Matua Valley Wines is a New Zealand wine producer of the Marlborough region on South Island. It is famous for being the first winery in country to produce Sauvignon Blanc. Brothers Bill and Ross Spence came from several generations of winemakers, and after both studying viticulture and winemaking, bought a piece of property on Matua Road in Auckland. Wanting to experiment with new varieties, they hunted up and down New Zealand, eventually finding that Semillon, Cabernet Franc, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc had good potential. The first vintage was in 1974 and consisted of 300 liters of Sauvignon Blanc. Today, Matua Valley is one of the largest wineries in New Zealand. Matua Valley has access to vineyards across the country, owning land in the Hawke's Bay and Marlborough regions, and sourcing grapes from contract growers in Gisborne and Central Otago. Matua is therefore able to produce a large range of wines from most of New Zealand's most famous grape varieties, including Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Syrah.
