Our People
Tom Hutchison - Director
Tom’s journey in creating Rock Ferry Wines began more than 25 years ago when he discovered the pleasures of wine as a university student. A fortuitous opportunity to experience the great domains of France led him to exploring the more circumspect philosophy that ‘fine wine begins with the vine’, enrolling at UC-Davis to study viticulture. With Rock Ferry, he has targeted exceptional New Zealand vineyard areas to plant traditional as well as experimental grape varietals and has carefully selected and assembled a passionate and talented group of people to bring his vision to life.
Allan McWilliams - Winemaker
Armed with an oenology degree from Roseworthy, Allan may hold a record for the number of vintages worked in interesting wine regions. He has made wine in the Hunter Valley and Margaret River, Australia before heading over to the U.S. to make Pinot Noir in Oregon and eventually to Chateau Petrus in Bordeaux. After brief stints in Switzerland and Italy’s Barolo region, he returned home to New Zealand and winemaking for Goldwater Estate, Nautilus, Cellier Le Brun and Wairau River. Allan has been hand crafting Rock Ferry’s wines since our first vintage in 2005.
Kurt Simcic - Viticulturalist (Marlborough)
Kurt grew up in the wine industry and has an obsession with growing things well. He is a long-time convert to organic growing and says he could never go back to conventional viticulture because ‘organics just makes sense’. If he’s not surfing, you can find him and his faithful companion Bryne actively working in our Marlborough vineyards.
Jason Thomson - Viticulturalist (Central Otago)
Jason loves plants and strives to produce top quality grapes from those plants. He enjoys getting out amongst the vines and watching the seasons change and believes that wines talk of their place and of their parentage. He believes that grapes reflect both their treatment on the vine and in the winemaking process.
Susan Ryan - Assistant Winemaker
Susan’s first passion was marine biology but grapes lured her away and she’s had a smile on her face ever since. Brought up in Marlborough, Susan travelled overseas for several vintages, and at Rock Ferry she takes pride in producing organic wines and working with an internationally experienced winemaking team.
Katherine Bamfield - Cellar Door Manager
Kat’s enthusiasm and involvement in the wine industry developed during her years of working as a qualified chef and getting amongst her family’s vineyard in Marlborough. Kat has worked for wine companies such as Cloudy Bay and Fromm Winery as well as doing a vintage in California and Alsace. Kat admits her biggest weakness is saying no to a glass of Rock Ferry Chardonnay.
