Profiles in Wine: Ryme Cellars’ assistant winemaker a quiet force

Before Matt Crutchfield became the assistant winemaker for Ryme Cellars in 2021, he’d been a superfan of the Forestville-based winery for years.

Initially introduced to the brand while working at a wine shop in Charleston, South Carolina, Crutchfield was immediately impressed by Ryme’s esoteric wines and its winemaker/owners, Ryan and Megan Glaab.

“I really appreciated Ryme’s orange wines — like their ribolla gialla, which is aged in amphora,” Crutchfield said. “That’s not something you see very often in the U.S. Even though they experiment, they consistently produce high-quality wines. They quickly became one of my favorite California wine producers.”

So when Crutchfield’s boss at the wine shop suggested he work a harvest in California to expand his wine knowledge, he jumped at the chance to come to Sonoma County.

“Before I left Charleston, I mapped out a winery tour to do when I arrived,” he said. “A lot of the wineries in this area influenced my decision to live in Sonoma County, like Ryme, Idlewild, Lioco and Joseph Swan.”

Crutchfield’s harvest internship took him to Merry Edwards winery in Sebastopol, where he caught the winemaking bug within weeks. The physical aspect of wine production reminded him of his time in construction, and he appreciated the hands-on work.

Crutchfield worked in production at Merry Edwards for two and a half years, but given Ryme Cellars was located less than 10 minutes away, he was a frequent visitor to their tasting room. Despite his shyness, he always found something to talk about.

“I used to stop by to sample the wines with Ryan and Megan and always asked if they were hiring,” Crutchfield said. “But they’re such a small team, there were never any openings.”

At one point, he tried to get his foot in the door by applying to be their tasting room manager. But Megan could sense he yearned to work in the cellar.

“When I talked with Matt about the job, he was very enthusiastic, but I could tell his heart and soul were in production,” Megan said. “So when an assistant winemaker position came up soon after, we knew he would be a perfect fit. Matt has this incredible thirst for learning and drive to explore. That’s something you can’t teach people. You either have that drive or you don’t.”

In 2021, within two months of taking on his new gig at Ryme, Crutchfield began thinking about making his own wine — an idea Megan encouraged.

“When you’re the steward of your own wine, from grape to bottle, you learn exponentially faster and have a greater understanding of all aspects of winemaking,” Megan said. “Also, for young people in California, winemaking can be very capital-intensive. We wanted to give him a leg up like Pax Wines did for us when we were starting out.”

A big fan of Ryme’s skin-fermented wines, Crutchfield decided to produce two chenin blancs — one fermented with the skins and one without.

For the last two vintages, Crutchfield added Italian white varietals to his lineup: two versions of cortese and a falanghina.

“Megan and Ryan have been very supportive and generously allowed me to make my wines at Ryme,” Crutchfield said. “Not a lot of wineries let you do that. Honestly, the entire wine community is so warm and supportive in Sonoma County. They’ve made me feel really welcome, especially my friends at Ryme, Idlewild Wines and Ruth Lewandowski winery.”

Crutchfield isn’t sure what lies ahead for his burgeoning wine brand, Matt Crutchfield Wines. For now, he’s just enjoying the process of making wine and sharing it with others.

“I certainly don’t see myself leaving Ryme anytime soon,” he said. “I guess the grand plan is to keeping scaling up until Ryan and Megan kick me out.”

You can reach Staff Writer Sarah Doyle at 707-521-5478 or sarah.doyle@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @whiskymuse.