As the former Chief of Research at the CSIRO, Dr John founded machine harvesting and pruning in Australia in the 1960s before retiring to McLaren Vale to plant vines.
With just over 50 hectares of vines in Blewitt Springs and Willunga, Possums McLaren Vineyards produce wines that have formed the backbone of many quality McLaren Vale labels. With Dr John's valuable experience the vineyards are managed to low yield, high quality varietals that are highly sought after in the region.
Dr John and his wife, Carol Summers, formed Possums Wines in 2000 with high accolades from international critics on their initial winemaking efforts. A high proportion of their estate grown wines are still exported, including a single vineyard range of 'Dr John's Wines'.
A purpose-built winery was built on site in 2008 at Blewitt Springs and a full-time winemaker now enables all estate grown grapes to be processed to the highest quality. In 2009 Possums Vineyards was awarded the first climate change grant in the region for super insulating all of their fermentation and storage tanks.