How This Winemaker Built a Business That Does Well – and Does Good

As a young winemaker, Matt Burton travelled the world to work vintage seasons across the United States and France before returning home to set up his own winery. In 2011, he opened Gundog Estate in the Hunter Valley, which also has holdings in the Canberra wine district and the Hilltops region of New South Wales. Here, Matt shares how he avoided “a financial black hole” to build a community of wine lovers, and how he leverages the American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card to help grow the business in Asia.

Burton was raised in Sydney’s Balmain in a creative family – his dad, Geoff Burton, is a successful director and cinematographer and his mum, Professor Sharon Bell, is a distinguished anthropologist. “I always loved how my mum and dad had various projects on the go,” he says. This included a shared love of good food and wine. 

“In my final years of high school, the biggest career decision I had to make was whether to be a chef or a winemaker,” he says. “I chose the one with the more sociable hours.” 

In 2006 – after completing a wine science degree at Charles Sturt University and spending a few years in the industry – Burton advised his parents against buying a small vineyard near Canberra. “As a young winemaker I’d already seen the financial black hole of some vineyards. But my folks had greater vision than me and persevered. These days that vineyard produces a wonderful crop of riesling that goes into our wines.”

Unusually, Gundog Estate has two charming cellar doors located far apart. One occupies a revamped former schoolhouse in the Hunter Valley’s Pokolbin and the other, Cork Street Cellar in Gundaroo, is in a 19th-century stone stable in the countryside north of Canberra. “I think we’re the only small producer in Australia silly enough to have two cellar doors more than 400km apart,” he says. 

This willingness to do things differently has been a signature of Burton’s 25-year career and he’s quick to spy an opportunity to grow Gundog Estate’s range. Gundog also makes a dry gin “with a Hunter Valley semillon infusion” and Hunting Ale – beer made in collaboration with Sydney-based Nomad Brewing. Less traditional products include Gundog Estate Pinot Noir Puttanesca sauce and a dog-friendly “beer” – Tail Ale – made from ethically sourced Australian beef. 

With such a diverse spread of products, Burton needs time to test the waters with customers, and using the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card to pay suppliers delivers precisely that flexibility. “Having up to 51 days to pay for purchases¹ allows us to get creative and try new products and see what customers are responding to.” 

Since joining Qantas Business Rewards in 2023, Gundog has put as many business expenses as possible on its American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card and its monthly spend has steadily risen in line with the boutique winery’s success. 

“When we opened the Pokolbin cellar door in 2011, we produced around 1,000 dozen bottles a year,” he says. “Today we’re producing almost 9,000 dozen a year. Our Gundog Barrel Club memberships have gone from a handful of friends and family to more than 1,500 and we have built a list of free subscribers that’s about the same size.”

Earning up to 1.25 Qantas Points per $1 spent on everyday business expenses and 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent on Qantas products and services², Burton is able to travel to key locations around the country using his business’s Qantas Points. “We use either points or the Card to make all our travel bookings through our Qantas Business Rewards Account – from airfares to accommodation and rental cars.”

The family’s beloved cocker spaniel – a “failed gundog” named Karl Marx – was the original model for the wine label. As Burton’s family grew to include his daughters, Scarlett and Maddison, he became more focused on “a sense of legacy and leaving the world in a better state for my kids and their kids and the kids of everyone else we know”, he says. 

Gundog Estate wines have been carbon neutral for five successive years. “Achieving carbon neutrality isn’t the end point and we are continually looking at ways to reduce our carbon footprint and offset the balance of any residual emissions as we go. It’s driven a whole wave of efficiency for us. We’ve brought in new equipment to save electricity, reviewed all of our processes in the winery to save on water and energy and we’re using increasing amounts of renewable energy.”

He’s equally proud of the business’s community partnership with Path 2 Change, a Newcastle-based not-for-profit supporting homeless and disadvantaged young people. “The best way to break intergenerational disadvantage is through employment,” he says. “We have a responsibility to do more for people who don’t have the privilege we’ve had.”

Unlock the possibilities 

Matt Burton shares how the American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card has helped him take Gundog Estate from a bold dream to a world-class winery.

“Time your payments to peak periods”

“Making wine is really expensive,” says Burton. “There’s capital expenditure each year on items including new French oak barrels, which cost almost $4,000 each, as well as the cost of repairing or replacing equipment and purchasing fruit.” Burton uses the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card to keep his cashflow flexible. “Having up to 51 days to pay for purchases¹ is a great benefit, especially around harvest time. I put everything I can on the Card – from supplier payments to all of our software subscriptions, marketing and international couriers to send samples.”

“Don’t just use the Card – accept it in your business”

“We’ve accepted American Express for payments since the day we opened our first cellar door in 2011. It’s one of the most popular Cards – particularly among our Gundog Barrel Club members – so it really works for us.” As Matt sees it, just as he enjoys earning Qantas Points² by paying for business expenses with his American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card, Gundog Estate wine enthusiasts value being rewarded for using their personal American Express Cards, too.

“Act the moment opportunity appears”

When there’s a business opportunity ripe for the picking, Burton wants easy access to funds that can make it happen. The American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card allows you to access a line of unsecured funding with flexible spending power.³ This allows Gundog Estate to take advantage of unsecured funding based on the winery’s credit history. “Knowing we have that adaptability means we’re able to pursue things that we otherwise may not have been able to,” says Burton. “For example, recently we’ve seen a new export market opportunity in Japan, which requires us to make more of certain products and support sales with additional travel. At a time when there’s so much consolidation happening around us, it can seem counterintuitive to focus on expansion. We are confident that these opportunities are worth pursuing and having the Card affords us a line of credit to do it.”

“Use Qantas Points to drive more business travel” 

As a winemaker, Burton is in tune with the seasons. As a business owner he knows how to turn points from payments into travel. Gundog Estate earns up to 1.25 Qantas Points for every $1 spent on business expenses and 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent on Qantas products and services² with the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card. “I love that we accrue Qantas Points² at such a beneficial rate by using the Card for our costs. I use these Qantas Points to book trips through Qantas Business Rewards to see our distributors and spend time with sales reps around the country to build those relationships.” 

“Invest in seeing far-flung clients face-to-face”

As Gundog Estate continues to grow its overseas market, Matt uses the Card to pay for international flights. “We’ve been exporting to the UK for a while and it’s vital that we show up in person to meet with our distributors and keep our brand front of mind,” says Matt. “I fly Qantas, so I get points for purchasing with the Card, points in our Qantas Business Rewards Account and points for my own Frequent Flyer Account – it’s pretty good. When I pay for those flights on the Card, travel insurance is built in so it’s one less thing to worry about and pay for.” (Domestic and International Travel Insurance for you, your spouse and your Employee Card Members when you pay for your return trip with your Card. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply such as maximum age limits, pre-existing medical conditions and cover limits.⁴) With numerous awards and a bright future, the Card and Gundog Estate have proven to be a winning blend.

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