John is a retired Ski instructor, keen brewer, dedicated foodie and another mountain biker. He has been with us forever, initially employed as a vineyard hand and cellar rat in 1997. He took over the reigns of chief winemaker at Chard Farm in 2002 and has done several Northern hemisphere vintages in Oregon and California. John and wife Jo have a son ? Hugo and daughter ? Isobel. John is famous for his dry sense of humour and very tasty beers, the latest being an IPA-Indian Pale Ale. As the saying goes - it takes a lot of beer to make great wine! He also makes a wicked Central Otago gin ? created using the traditional triple distilled London dry gin technique, and using Central Otago botanicals.