When Marlborough winemaker Matt Thomson finds time to sit around, the seat he’s most keen to occupy is one that wears a good lick of sea spray.

Words Claire Finlayson

To understand what makes Matt Thomson tick, it’s helpful to know that he has five different weather apps on his phone. That may seem a little excessive, but as someone besotted with both winemaking and boating, he’s a man ever poised between meteorological misery and climatic delight.

When the weather gods are in a cheerful mood and not tormenting his Blank Canvas vineyards, Matt can often be found adrift in the Marlborough Sounds in his favourite possie – the stern of his Rayglass 2500 boat.

As a winemaker and wine consultant, Matt’s schedule is air-travel heavy. This year alone, he’s made four journeys to Europe, two trips to Asia, South America and Australia, and one to North America. ‘I’ve worked out I’ve done about 11,000 flying hours over 30-odd years. It equates to a year and a quarter, 24 hours a day, above the ground.’

There’s more than a whiff of sea-ache in that air-travel calculation. The more time he spends in a pressurised air cabin 35,000 feet above sea level, the more his ocean hunger grows. Matt says that being afloat on a boat is one of the swiftest ways to shrug off the demands of work. Not that he doesn’t love his job – this is, after all, a man who started reading all he could about wine when he was just 14 (‘I was an unusual child!’) and started stashing bottles of Bordeaux and Burgundy under his bed soon thereafter.

But even the most wine-keen sort needs to walk away from the needy vineyard. ‘You can get text messages in most parts of the Sounds, but you don’t have to look at them. There aren’t many urgent things that happen in the weekends in the wine industry – except for at vintage time when you just can’t go near the boat because you’re on call 24 hours a day.’

The more time he spends in a pressurised air cabin 35,000 feet above sea level, the more his ocean hunger grows.

Overnighting on the boat in Queen Charlotte or Pelorus Sound with his family is the perfect antidote to normal weekday pressures. His favourite shipmates are wife Sophie Parker-Thomson (Master of Wine and co-owner of Blank Canvas), daughters Gianna and Isabella, and a rather busy fox terrier called Raphael.

‘I think there’s about 2,500 km of coastline in the Sounds. It’s phenomenal. It’s pretty special to wake up and see wildlife swimming around you. We’ve had fin whales nearby and many species of dolphin playing around the boat. We once had a visit from a leopard seal, which was a bit spooky – he was in a good mood though. We’ve also had seals jump up onto the back of the boat.’

Put a fishing rod in his hand when he’s at the stern of his boat and you’ve got one supremely happy Matt. The thing he most likes to find on the end of his line is a chunky kingfish. ‘Kingfish sashimi with a delicate but fragrant Pinot Noir is beautiful. We always take plenty of wine out with us. We’ve got friends with boats who are also in the wine industry, so we meet out in the bay and tie the boats up together. The kids have fun on one boat and the adults sit around a table with some wine on the other boat. It’s a pretty cool thing to do.’

Wine, overseas travel, family and fishing. It’s not a hard combo to love. Asked if he thinks he’s nailed the best lifestyle, Matt says, ‘It could be worse.’