John Parks, founder of Plowboy Wine grew up in the Bay Area and moved to Montana at the age of 10 where he worked for the next 5 years as a plowboy on a 300 acre ranch. He didn’t know it then, but this would be the inspiration for the name of his small batch winery more than 30 years later.

After spending some time building homes, John devoted himself to a career as a professional firefighter and has served the Bay Area for the past 30 years. A magical wine tasting trip with friends a decade ago inspired him to learn more about the process of creating and producing wine. Soon after, he began learning all he could about the craft.

In service of his newfound passion, John enrolled in college classes that focused on enology (the study of wine) and viticulture (the growing of the grapes). He moved to the Sierra Foothills and took a position as an intern at a local winery, working under the winemaker who would become his mentor.