David started his winemaking in England, after completing post-graduate studies at Roseworthy College, Australia. He is one of the second generation of UK wine producers, having been born at Rock Lodge vineyard, planted by his father in the 1960s. He was central to the formation of Chapel Down, where he was winemaker till late 1999, also working as a consultant in Argentina, Chile, France and Romania. In 2000 he joined Bottle Green as their flying winemaker, then Waverly Vintners in a similar role, winemaking around the globe. In the last 20 years he has made wine in 14 countries, 30 regions and worked in more wineries than he cares to remember.
As winemaker at Chapel Down and Rock Lodge, David won the trophy for the Best English Wine three times at the International Wine and Spirit Competition, as well as the Gore-Brown, Jack Ward, Dudley Quirk, Wine Guild, and McNie trophies. David is also well versed with the rewards and hardships of running a wine production business, as he runs his own vineyards in Southern France.
David aims to introduce new techniques and technologies and help producers on technical issues such as the choice of winery equipment and forward planning. Focusing principally on wine quality, he will also take into account considerations such as sustainability, environmental responsibility, traceability and costs of production.