I am an accomplished chef having cooked with some of Canada’s best chefs in the 1990’s in Toronto and Montreal and a certified sommelier and have worked in Vancouver’s wine trade both on the international and domestic sides of the business. I am a writer and published author, with an academic background in philosophy and critical theory. 

In 2002 I co-founded JoieFarm Winery in Naramata where, in its early days, my multi-faceted journey included running an on-farm cooking school and guesthouse. In 2007, I wrote and designed an award-winning book, Menus from an Orchard Table, that documented that aspect of the journey. Then, self-taught, I boldly made wine in earnest, planting and running vineyards over a number of unique terroir, and eventually created an 18,000-case winery that became a dynamic and resilient business over two decades.