Driven by an early love for wine through his family's interests, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Plant and Microbial Sciences and a Masters Degree in Applied Sciences (Viticulture and Oenology) with Honors.

Early winemaking adventures took him from his native New Zealand to chase the harvest as a flying winemaker. From Australia to Italy to New Zealand to France and back to Australia again. Backpack in tatters and 5 vintages in quick succession, it was time to regroup.

Matt then joined the highly respected Wine Network Consulting located in Melbourne, Australia. With an enviable list of clients, including boutique producers through to large multinationals, every day was a blast. As part of a high-profile team, he provided viticulture, winemaking, and wine business advice, established vineyards, designed wineries and introduced new wine production technologies.

Looking to further broaden his international experience, Matt moved to the US in 2003, where he spent the next 10 years in Group, Director and Chief Winemaker roles at two of the world's largest publicly listed wine companies. Constellation Wines US (>50M cases p.a.) and Treasury Wine Estates Americas (>10M cases p.a.). The timing was perfect, as shortly after joining Constellation, the company embarked on a series of large acquisitions including Robert Mondavi, Vincor and Fortune Brands.  As Treasury's VP and Chief Winemaker, Matt was responsible for their large portfolio of brands (including Beringer, Stags Leap, Etude, Chateau St Jean and many more) as well as R&D, Sensory, Inventory and the operational management of Luxury sites. At both companies, he put in place the management framework to produce large complex portfolios, encourage close working relationships with Sales & Marketing and was a driving force behind the creation of numerous new wines and brands from all over the world.

Having achieved what he wanted in the big companies, in 2013 Matt decided to test his entrepreneurial spirit. Intrigued by the rapid growth in direct to consumer sales and gig economy, Matt joined crowd-funded startup Nakedwines.com as their International Chief Winemaker & Wine Officer. Thriving on the challenge to create an exclusive portfolio of wines that were winemaker driven and consumer-led, for sale in the US, UK and Australia. Responsible for managing the investment of > 300K angel investors fund into > 150 winemakers, > 1000 wines and selling > 1M cases from all over the world. After three years of phenomenal growth and success, the company was acquired by publicly traded Majestic Wines, the UK's largest fine wine retailer. It was time for Matt to set up his own business.

In 2016, Matt established Vinture LLC to focus on his Matt Parish brand, Winemaking Consulting, and other fun stuff. Launched in 2013, the Matt Parish® brand has grown rapidly. Focused on Napa Valley and what Matt refers to as "diamonds in the rough", the wines are modern and highly approachable in style and have already received numerous awards and Matt was voted 2017 US Winemaker of the year by customers. Vinture Consulting is also growing quickly, now working on a diverse range of products all over the world. Integral to his approach in the experiences that have shaped him and his rare ability and belief in balancing and perfecting the art, science, and business of winemaking.