Meet Simon & Olive | Winemaker & Wife
Welcome and thanks for visiting! We started The McGeorge Wine Co. in 2009. We are based in Canterbury, New Zealand, and make our wines in Waipara. In the beginning, we made our wines to share with family and friends. Now, we produce a boutique run of delicious wines each year. Our brands reflect our individual styles and personalities. The Winemaker's Wife is about fun, fashion, and a tribute to partnership, McGEORGE is about self-discovery, family connections, and tradition. We hope you enjoy our wines.
Thank you!
When you choose to buy our wines, you are supporting our small business and helping to keep our dream alive. We remain forever grateful to you, and everyone who enjoys our wine. Thank you and cheers, from Simon McGeorge, The Winemaker, and Olive Hill, The Winemaker’s Wife.
Picture: Simon, Olive & their son.
Simon McGeorge | Winemaker
Simon has spent 30 years creating wines for major international brands and local boutique labels. In New Zealand, he is most well known for his multi-award winning work as the winemaker and brand ambassador for Waipara Hills Winery (2006 – 2017).
Simon continues to work full time in the wine industry. He is the Facility Manager and full-time Contract Winemaker for New Zealand Wineries, based in Waipara. Since 2009 he has also worked as the Director and Winemaker for his own company; the McGEORGE wine co. His wife and inspiration is Olive Hill.
Simon studied wine making at Lincoln University and went on to work in Australia, France, Slovenia, America and the three main wine regions of New Zealand, before returning to Canterbury in 2006.
Simon’s passion for wine making and his love of the challenges it brings, drive him to constantly explore new methods and techniques to create phenomenal wines.
He is now using that knowledge to create the very best wines for his clients and his own wine brands.
Olive Hill | The Winemaker’s Wife
Olive grew up on a Canterbury sheep farm. She spent her early years enjoying life in the country and lived for a year in Japan with her sister and parents. Olive is a customer service professional with years of retail, marketing and administration experience. She has worked in a diverse range of industries. She has a BA in Japanese, is a qualified Make-Up Artist and is extremely interested in History, Digital Design, Anthropology and Human Rights.
From 2005 to 2019 Olive and her sister, Ngaio Bell, ran the celebrated ‘Smith & Boston’ boutique in Prebbleton, Christchurch. Together they designed and sold exclusive, special occasion-wear for women.
When Olive met Simon it was her love of fun, fashion and a challenge, that led her to the initial idea for The Winemaker’s Wife range. Simon thought the name was very catchy and the rest is history!
Olive is the brand ambassador for her namesake wine label The Winemaker’s Wife and is responsible for keeping things fun. She most enjoys the task of wine sampling, together with Simon, family and friends.
Follow our journey
Connect with Simon & Olive on Facebook. See behind the scenes of their hands-on boutique winemaking business. There is more to making wine than you think. Feel free to share your questions and photos.