After 30 years of working in the film and television industry in London I moved to Terre de Bardet with my French wife, Claudie, in 2000. Here we have started a new life with our son Frank, who joined us a year later and has been the driving force in the restoration of the vineyards and the building of the winery.

I started my adult life by backpacking around Australia for a year and a half, when I returned to England I rapidly went through a handful of jobs that trained me in all of the categories on my driving licence - from forklift truck through double-decker buses to articulated heavy lorries. Other jobs included nurseryman, landscape gardening and tractor driver. After a spell as manager of a west London motorcycle shop I sold up and came to Terre de Bardet on my way to Thailand for some soul searching. But here I fell in love with the area, bought a house, started a family and settled down to viticulture with a passion.