HILLCREST WINES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- COO and Sales / Marketing Director
Andrew is Jacob's Brother-In-Law, and is a co-founder of Black Chalk. He was introduced to the wine industry via Jacob, and has learnt on the job as well as attending several courses at Plumpton and with Wine GB. Andrew came from a very different background, before Black Chalk was conceived he ran a successful property development company, and prior to that he spent 5 years as a professional poker player! Andrew is very focused on delivering the famous Black Chalk branding across all areas of the business.
In 2009 Jacob left a comfortable job in London to retrain as a winemaker at Plumpton college. Since then he has worked in the English wine industry producing multiple award winning wines. He has also worked in Champagne and New Zealand during this time. Black Chalk was launched in 2015 with Jacob as joint owner and Winemaker. In 2018 after 7 years, Jacob left his winemaker job at Hattingley Valley to focus on Black Chalk full time. Jacob also currently chairs WineGB Wessex.
Nick joined us in the summer of 2020 and is our General Manager. Originally from Portsmouth, Nick studied Music at Kingston University. Whilst it remains a passion, his career has been mainly hospitality-based - running restaurants and other retail venues over the last fifteen years. Nick oversees the vineyard tours, events and our new Tasting Room.
After studying English and Drama at university, Zoë spent a couple of years travelling the world; it was during this time she fell in love with winemaking whilst working for a sparkling winery in Australia. Upon returning to the UK, she became the UK's first Winemaking Apprentice at Hattingley Valley Wines, progressing up to Assistant Winemaker, helping to make several award winning wines. She has also spent some time making wine in Champagne, and in 2021 she graduated from Plumpton College with an MSc degree in Viticulture and Oenology, which she studied for outside of work.