John grew up in the Lithuanian Village neighborhood of Brockton, MA and was the first Irish kid in a four room parochial schoolhouse known as Saint Casimir’s. Though he did not necessarily appreciate the experience at the time, this timeless little European village, located 45 minutes south of Boston would have a tremendous impact on his understanding of culture, community, tradition, and cuisine later in life. (He still occasionally greets folks by saying “Labas”- the only Lithuanian he remembers- and still enjoys dark rye bread, kugelis and kielbasa with cabbage.) He entered the business world after graduating from Bryant College in 1985 with a degree in Entrepreneurial Management. His interest in fine wine developed during his 5 years working as a commercial real estate broker in the metro Boston market. In 1990, John became a member of the fine wine trade, starting out as a wholesale fine wine sales representative working with Classic Wine Imports and Boston Wine Company. John later gained insight into the supplier world at the importer level working with European Cellars/Eric Solomon Selections as Northeast Regional Manager. In 2000, John joined the brand management team of M.S. Walker, Inc. as their Small Estates Portfolio Manager and later became their Fine Wine Portfolio Director. John has overseen the development of a multi-million dollar fine wine portfolio, implementing product selection and brand development strategies. John has traveled extensively throughout the wine world and has developed strong, long-lasting relationships with a broad range of importers and producers. And, oh yeah….. John LOVES everything there is about fine wine and he loves sharing that passion with anyone who cares to share in the experience.
In 2004, John received his Diploma from the UK -based Wine & Spirits Education Trust, the foremost international body providing high quality education and training to the wine and spirits trade.
