A kiwi guy and a girl from Michigan. We met as ski instructors in Tahoe. After the ski season ended we made the move to New Zealand, and landed on Waiheke Island. Primarily because we managed to line up jobs for both of us to work together, that was our biggest priority. The job was making pizzas and serving them in a vineyard cafe. In addition, we found ourselves working in the vineyard. It was being out in the vines together that we really found our love of wine and the romance that makes wine so special for us. Although Matt is seriously good at making pizza, he decided to focus on wine. After living on the island for seven years we decided to move to Napa Valley California to continue our journey and start a family. Wine has taught us so much about our love for people and places. All of the wonderful people we have met on our journey and the beautiful places we have been together. For us Te Mama contains all of those things, and we very excited to get to share it with you.
Our name, Te Mama translates (to us) as ‘a container of treasures'. A fuller interpretation is 'our container of treasured things and people that spring from mother earth.