Fellow of New Zealand Winegrowers
Founder Smith & Sheth
Steve Smith MW has spent his career in the New Zealand wine industry as a researcher, viticulturist, leader and creator of entrepreneurial wine businesses such as Craggy Range and Smith & Sheth. He became a Master of Wine in 1996 becoming the first viticulturist in the world to achieve the honour. He has been inducted as a Fellow of New Zealand Winegrowers and into the Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Hall of Fame, and been involved in a number of industry governance roles and wider initiatives.
In May 2024 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Lincoln University where he was Chancellor from 2016 to 2018 and recently has spent time in various governance and strategy roles across the food and fibre sectors. At the end of the day over the last 30 years, his happy place is amongst the great vineyards and with the wines he has created.
“Our distinctive, genuinely cool climate Chardonnay represents New Zealand’s greatest opportunity in the world of fine wine. Individual producers have driven this... until now. It is time for us to collaborate, challenge, provide encouragement and a sense of resolve and belief... the Aotearoa Chardonnay Symposium is the keystone to this coalition of the willing... I am honoured to be a speaker.
