John James

John James was born on 20 April 1935. His parents were publicans. He made his first wine when he was 14 years old. He did a degree in Chemistry; visited David Gregg at Margaret River in 1973, and became interested in wine making. He purchased Ribbonvale in 1977 and planted 17 acres of grapes; working on the winery at weekends. The wine was made by Di Cullen, then David Hohnen, and Mike and Jan Davies