Michael Coode is one of those rare leading winemakers who is as comfortable talking about business spreadsheets and the profit margin on every bottle of wine he produces, as he is the specific yeast clones, or style of wood he uses to make them.
A hugely engaging wine personality who is very much the sum of the parts that have helped him get to the position he is now in at Napa’s prestigious Rutherford Hill winery.
A career that has seen him pick up skills, experiences and knowledge from some of the most important and influential winemakers and producers in the world. Be it during his time at Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux, or down the road at Inglenook from his current Napa home.
Each acting as their own jigsaw piece that when put together makes Coode quite a unique individual with experience of working at both some of the world’s most prestigious wine estates, but also the know-how gained at being at some of the industry’s biggest and most competitive multinational wine brands and businesses, including Gallo and Fosters in Australia.
Where it started…
Michael Coode has enjoyed a wide and varied winemaking career that has taken him from the best wineries in Australia, Bordeaux, Canada and Napa
Born in South Africa, Coode was brought up and went to school in Australia. Although he comes from a family of accountants, a career test at school identified winemaking as a natural opportunity for him. It was, though, whilst working at a bottle shop in Australia, whilst he was doing his wine studies, that he really got the wine bug, being surrounded by all these different wines and labels from all over the world.
“I had a great mentor there who was a wine educator for the Royal Air Force in Australia and he would do all these wine education classes. He took me under his wing and showed me all these wines from around the world like Chateaux Margaux and Petrus,” he says.
He was then able to go and see some of those wine regions for himself as his winemaking degree meant he had do two harvests, one in Australia and one overseas. For which he chose Tahbilk in Victoria, Australia and Inniskillin and the chance to make ice wine in Niagara, Canada.
With his wine degree under his belt it was time to follow his dream and head to Bordeaux and apply for work there.
“For me it’s a no brainer. If you want to be the best, you have to learn from the best,” he says.
Luck certainly favours the brave for out of all the requests he sent out for work in Bordeaux, Chateaux Margaux where the first to reply.
“Next thing I know I am on plane to go there and then had seven months of those most amazing experience in my life. I was also only the third English speaking person to work there which is amazing on its own.
He says he will be forever grateful for the chance to work first hand with the likes of Philippe Bascaules at such an early stage in his career.
“Every experience is what you make of it and they were nothing short of amazing to me. I am very grateful for my time there,” he adds.
Learning and sharing
Coode is one of those rare winemakers as comfortable talking about a massive consumer brand like Wolf Blass as he is a coveted Napa Cabernet Sauvignon or first growth Bordeaux.
He says he learnt so much from both his time at what was then Fosters in Australia - now Treasury Wine Estates - and Gallo in California.
At Wolf Blass he had the chance to work alongside the wine winemaking team for Penfolds and in particular its head white winemaker Kym Schroeter. He specifically remembers the advice he gave him on what the most important factors are in making a quality white wine and how much of it comes down to getting the flavour attributes right when working on the press.
“When you nail that. You nail the wine,” he says. “That was the most amazing education.” Advice he has taken on to his white winemaking today.
“You had 10 winemakers there who have each done amazing things and were able to learn fromall there different philosophies and what they look at in a wine. It was such a great opportunity,” he says.
Why Napa?
Michael Coode is already making his mark on the wines at Rutherford Hill with new ideas, techniques and a targeted upgrade in quality
So with all this winemaking experience why did Coode decide to go back and put down his roots in Napa?
“The US is the largest wine consuming country in the world and Napa is where a lot of investment happens,” he says.
It was initially also the opportunity to work again with Chateaux Margaux’s Philippe Bascaules who was in 2015 the wine director for Francis Ford Coppola’s Inglenook. After he returned to Bordeaux, Coode then took on a role as new product development manager at E&J Gallo where again he was able to fast track his wine education. Not only in terms of making quality, premium, big volume wine but its laser like focus on the consumer.
“I went there to learn the consumer. The US consumer is vastly different and the private research they have is the most iconic in the world,” he says.
The whole Gallo experience is one that clearly has had a big impact on Coode and that ability to make quality wine at such a scale is one any winemaker should revere, he stresses. “It’s such a different skills set and knowing the things that truly impact quality is mind blowing and the smallest thing can have a phenomenal impact.”
Rutherford Hill opportunity
Skills that made Coode an attractive proposition when Rutherford Hill, owned by the Terlato family, in 2022, was looking for a new head winemaker and general manager.
Coode explains: “I think the ultra-premium expertise I had was very appealing to them and the fact we are dead opposite to Inglenook.”
He thinks they also appreciated the time and homework he put in tasting through the Rutherford Hill range and coming to his first interview with a detailed analysis of what where he thought he could potentially help take them and offer some “young buck” ideas.
Michael Coode realises the huge opportunity and responsibility he now has to craft the wines from Napa's iconic Rutherford Hill winery
A “crucial” factor, he says, in agreeing and wanting to go and work at Rutherford Hill was the fact they were so open to new ideas and someone coming in and having the freedom to make changes.
“I think they realised there was something wrong and something needed to change, but they did not know what was needed,” he explains.
Coode points to what he describes as the “most important valuable lesson” he has learnt in wine which came from Ralph Garcin, winemaker at Paul Jaboulet Ainé, that you have to be able to “take a wine where you want it to go”.
“They said you take it where you think you can take it. That makes life so much easier. That was absolutely crucial.”
It’s still very early days in Coode’s Rutherford Hill winemaking career, but he says you can hopefully already see and taste the differences in its wines.
Reimagining Sauvignon Blanc
He is particularly, and rightly pleased by the phenomenal response there has been to his new style of Sauvignon Blanc. His first Rutherford Hill Sauvignon Blanc 2022, Napa Valley vintage was given an unprecedented 94 points by Wine Spectator, the highest score ever given to a Napa Sauvignon Blanc.
“I am really happy with some of the reviews we have got,” he adds, particularly as he has made some big, brave, changes to the style of wine which took some persuading to be given the green light. But he made the business case for why he thought the wine needed to move away from stainless steel production and put a lot more focus on the vineyards, particularly around canopy management and when the grapes are picked.
“Ralph [Garcin] was an amazing mentor and taught me everything. I attribute what I know today to him. He closed the loop on a lot of things. The key steps where the precision is paramount. Making sure the attention to detail out in the vineyard is right and then particularly what you do in the winery. You can miss opportunities in the winery and we closed that loop.”
The new award winning highest point scoring Rutherford Hill Sauvignon Blanc
The secret to his Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc style rests, a lot, in the quality and style of oak.
“I don’t want it to be oaky, I just want a little bit of oak impact. It’s supposed to be Napa Valley and exemplify what the fruit has to offer.”
To get that oak balance right means fermenting in oak and using puncheons and not barriques.
“Fermenting in oak is a crucial part, whether it is red or white. It does a great job without needing to be oaky. It’s just the way the fermenting kenetics work. It gives you a great mid palate.”
He could not have had a more successful reaction to his first Sauvignon Blanc.
“I said to my team that if we break 92 points we are having a bottle of Krug to celebrate. That review is unheard of for Napa and being number one for Napa Sauvignon Blanc for that vintage is pretty amazing. It’s been huge.”
“I think it is a really nice expression of Napa Valley and I think Napa is really starting to focus in on what it can produce. I am hoping we will see more really blockbuster Sauvignon Blancs coming out of Napa.”
Transitional reds
The reds, he adds, are still more in a “transition” phase and one of the key aspects is finding the right coopers to work with that can give him the quality and style of oak that he wants and not what they might want to give him.
“I expect our coopers to give us the product they say they will. Holding their feet to the fire is important to me because [oak] is the single biggest impact I make on the wine. If you don’t get the right oak it’s crucial. It can be oaky in a bitter and stringent way, or it can give some nice minerality, tension and depth.”
He adds: “The good thing is we are in the right direction with the 21s and then 22s are the next step and then with the 23s you will see a full gradual change. But it is all about upping the quality really. 23 is an exceptional year, so it’s nice to have that in the background as well.
Michael Coode says working with the right coopers and oak is essential in getting the quality of red wines he wants at Rutherford Hill
“I wanted to bring a renewed focus to the beauty of Merlot, which should be a balanced, soft and fruit forward wine with the aim of uniting Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon drinkers.
“The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon naturally evolved to become a wonderful expression of the Rutherford terroir. Where it highlights the natural dark blue fruits, which are eloquently coupled with dark chocolate and firm yet velvety tannins.”
Getting out and about
Making the wine is only part of Coode’s role. Getting out in the market to talk and sell the wines to existing and potentially new customers is always of crucial importance.
Up to now most of that face to face work has been in key states and cities across the US, like Chicago, New York, Florida and Texas. He has recently been in the UK and Europe visiting key markets, holding masterclasses and meeting customers from all over the world at ProWein.
He is particularly excited about the opportunities in the UK, working with Rutherford Hill’s and Terlato Wines’ UK and EMEA director, Chuck Cramer, and UK distributor, ABS Wine Agencies, especially for the new style of Sauvignon Blanc.
“As soon as I got to the UK I said to Chuck you need to take 1,000 cases. You get a lot of Sancerre and Bordeaux whites here and the choice you have here is amazing. I think we have the quality that will keep people interested.”
He says having Cramer working directly with the ABS team in the UK is a great partnership and asset to have.
“Having him here is amazing. He is so well connected and such a great advocate and is so passionate. He throws everything at it. I think that he is a real asset and not seen anyone as passionate as him and I have seen a lot of passionate people. He does a lot of late nights and early mornings. It is impressive.”
The ABS Wines partnership is also still relatively new and working well for Coode and Rutherford Hill.
“Distribution is key. It’s like our barrels, if it’s quite right, it does not work. That’s another thing I learnt at Gallo. Their distribution is amazing. Their sales expertise is amazing and then the rep that goes in and supports the sale. They are such a well oiled machine and they are impressive to watch. To be part of that and to be taught how they do is amazing and you can see why they are a force to reckoned with. They are going to leave other big boys in the dust.”
A way of working that Coode is looking to take and implement aspects of at Rutherford Hill, particularly in how it can use and share consumer data with its customers to show them the styles of wine that can do well in their venues.
Which brings us back to the strong business and commercial skills that Coode has as well as winemaking prowess.
“I am under no fallacy. You’re here to make money, and you’re here to run a business. I know what impact each region can have and what levers we need to pull.”
That might mean in terms of winemaking knowing what it takes to get the floral attributes the “peaches and cream on the mid palate and I know how to do that on the micro level.”
“I think I have a very unique skills set and want to lead a winery into ultimate success.
I am always learning and want to learn more and you can’t do that sitting on your hands. You can’t learn from Chateau Margaux sitting in the Napa Valley. You have to go and see and feel it for yourself. It’s crucial.”
About Rutherford Hill
- Founded in 1972 with first vintage produced in 1974.
- Owned by the Terlato family and Terlato Wines.
- It has 70% estate grown fruit and 100% from Napa.
- 60% of production is dedicated to Merlot
- It is Napa Green certified.
- 112 acres under vine including
- Rutherford Vineyards, 6 acres of rocky soil and steep west/ south west facing slope ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Mee Lane, 52 acres with 33 acres dedicated Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Pope Valley, 54 acres with Merlot, Cabernet Franc & Cabernet Sauvignon
- State of the art winery, with multiple small tanks, focusing on individual lots and ability to ferment from two to 20 tonnes. 75% of tanks are 10 tonnes or less.
- Open top ferments in 60 gallon barrels.
- Basket press for increased texture and colour and extraction.
- Distributed in the UK with ABS Wine Agencies.
