Jessica Hutchings gathered passionate experts to break new ground… because wine not?! Photo / Hagen Hopkins
Listening to the soil and leaves of a grapevine destined to become the first Māori organic wine, Dr Jessica Hutchings knew they were on to something.
Surrounded by five other inspiring wāhine, all experts in their fields, the group gathered in awe as cutting-edge technology enabled them to hear the plants’ mauri, or life force.
“We were able to plug a probe into the soil and clip it on to the leaves to hear the vascular sound of the grapes, the vines and the soil, to connect in with the mauri,” explains Jessica, 53.
That was in August 2024 and it was the first time this listening technology had been used in New Zealand for winemaking.
For the past 25 years, Jessica, an expert in food security with a PhD in environmental studies, has devoted herself to organic and Māori gardening practices and to teaching them. In 2011, she helped develop and launch the Māori-informed organic certification Hua Parakore.
When she met wāhine winemakers Huntress Wines founder Jannine Rickards and Richelle Tyney at a bio-dynamic wine conference three years ago, the idea of creating together something never done before quickly took root.
“They heard me make a tono, a request or challenge, to the few hundred winemakers there when I talked about how none of the wine was connected to anything Māori, except for taking Māori names or misusing them, and we should do something about it,” says Jessica. “We got talking and this is how Matiti, our wine collective, birthed.”
The name Matiti is a reference to the seven phases of summer in the Māori lunar calendar, which is also the time of year when winemaking occurs.
The other three members of the collective are researcher Mariana Te Rangi, who introduced them to the listening technology, organic tea blender Timmy Smith and Jessica’s wife Jo Smith, with whom she co-founded food security charitable trust Papawhakaritorito.
“I loved being able to share the Hua Parakore kaupapa with the collective,” shares Jessica, who is proud that every step of making the Pétillant Naturel sparkling riesling has been uniquely Māori. “Mātauranga Māori [indigenous knowledge] is not useful if you hold it all to yourself. We have to share it.”
Plus, it was fun. “You get six Māori women together talking about wine and there was a lot of laughter,” smiles Jessica. “I think the magic is that we don’t need to impress each other. We came as who we were with what we had to offer and could see everybody’s superpowers.”
Then disaster struck in November 2025, just days before they were due to meet at Jessica and Jo’s Kaitoke organic teaching farm to taste the first bottles of Matiti wine together.
In the early hours of the morning, a linseed oil-covered cloth Jessica had been using to oil a hue [a traditional Māori gourd plant] spontaneously combusted in the rubbish bin. Firefighters arrived 11 minutes later, but flames had already consumed the house.
“I’m very grateful we all got out safely,” shares Jessica, who lives intergenerationally with Jo and her mother Irene Wood. “We lost everything, including our seed bank,” she tells, “It’s the year of the snake, so we’re shedding it all and it will come back – nature does that.”
Without hesitation, the collective decided to meet just days later to celebrate the fruits of their labour.
“We put a tent up, poured the wine and drank it outside out of plastic glasses. But we were also picking up fire debris and in a very different space than we envisaged.”
Talking to the Weekly from a temporary cabin while they slowly rebuild their home at the bottom of the Remutaka Hill, it’s clear how much Jessica loves the land she has been on for 21 years.
“It’s an old dairy farm,” she says. “We reforested the whenua [land], planting thousands of native trees, and watched the birds return. Sometimes I’m in the garden and have to duck down from tūī and kererū swooping by and feasting on the kōwhai trees that weren’t here 20 years ago.”
There are also 10 seven-metre-long garden beds and two polytunnels that produce a consistent supply of organic kai for the extended whānau and community year-round.
Looking back, Jessica is proud of what they’ve achieved, bottling a little more than 1200 of Matiti’s first pet-nat vintage – and the dream is to keep going.
“The whenua wants to heal itself,” she tells. “And bringing Hua Parakore to winemaking, we’re helping the whenua to heal itself.”