Richard Charnock | Winemaker & Brand Ambassador
As a carpenter in Toronto, Richard knew he wanted to do something other than renovate old homes. In 2008, opportunity knocked when his cousin introduced him to an up-and-coming winery in Ontario’s Prince Edward County. Richard jumped at the opportunity to combine a passion for wine (developed through family dinners where wine played a leading role) with a career and has never looked back. Having spent the better part of a decade in cellars producing cool climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Aromatics in Prince Edward County, New Zealand, South Africa and Tasmania, Richard wanted to round out his experience by getting closer to the grapes. In 2015 he moved to the Okanagan, took the viticulture course at Okanagan College and hopped on a tractor to live out his goal of combining cool climate viticulture and low intervention winemaking. Richard joined JoieFarm in 2022 and, as the custodian of our vineyards and winery, is excited to showcase Okanagan terroir as captured by the Joie house style in each bottle.
Karl Duda | Winemaker & Cellarmaster
Karl is a lifelong resident of the Okanagan Valley with a deep respect for what the area has to offer. Growing up on a farm in Okanagan Falls afforded him plenty of opportunity to roam the hills and valleys of the region and he will never get tired of our pine forests, lakes, grasslands and mountains. In his youth he would often ride his bicycle out of necessity but that grew into a passion that turned into a career. He spent many years riding, racing, fixing and selling bicycles before a return to the wine industry.
He started at Joie in 2014 as a harvest helper and immediately fell in love with the work. Over the years he grew his skills and is now Assistant Winemaker for Joie Farm Winery. His goal is to maintain the Joie house style of fresh, juicy yet complex wines. He understands the importance of consistency for our brand and is always striving to maintain the qualities that Joie is known for while dealing with the challenges each harvest brings. The logistics and on the spot problem solving combined with the creativity of working with what nature gives you each year is what he loves about this work. You might even say he has developed a passion for it!
Karl lives in Naramata with his children, Everett and Adeline and a border collie named Barney who spends most of his time worrying about their chickens. They share a love for the outdoors, vegetarian food, books and simple, low impact living. And occasionally, he still manages to get out on his bike once in a while.
Kelvin Park | Lead Cellar Hand and Fulfillment
Kelvin has worked for JoieFarm Winery since he was a young man both in the vineyards and on the crush pad. He worked the 2013 & 2014 vintages as a labourer and 2019 & 2020 vintages as a Lead Cellar Hand. Kelvin has a multi-faceted role at JoieFarm: working in the winery at harvest and throughout the production cycle, in the vineyards as required throughout the growing season, assisting in inventory warehouse movements and taking great pride in fulfilling the shipping of our direct-to-consumer sales by coordinating inventory, couriers, a packing team and communications involved with successful expediting. Kelvin also assists with our summer-season hospitality, hosting guests and wine club members at the winery’s tasting room.
Lisa Weizert | Cellar Hand
Lisa joined us in early spring 2021 for a new adventure after spending 15 years in the service industry around the world. Originally from Germany she moved to Canada in 2018 to explore BCs amazing mountains and dive into the local wine industry. Her role at JoieFarm includes taking care of the estate vineyards, sharing her love for wine with our guests in the tasting room and being part of the production team. As she has a thirst for knowledge when it comes to all things wine Lisa is currently enrolled in the Viticulture and Winery Assistant program at Okanagan College to further her know-how on the production side.
Sean Roche | Secrest Vineyard Manager
Sean is the Vineyard Manager of our Seacrest Vineyard in Oliver. At 43 acres, this is by far our largest property. He grew up in South Africa around vineyards and wineries which is where his passion for farming and growing grapes started. His family moved to Ontario in 2008 where he started his career in farming by working for his father who has been in the wine industry for decades. Sean worked in the Ontario wine industry for close to 8 years before moving to the Okanagan for further schooling in 2018. He ended up falling in love with the Okanagan Valley and decided to move permanently. His goal is to provide the winery with the best quality fruit they can get to make top quality wines from. Having been in the industry for over a decade he understands the challenges that can arise in the day-to-day operations of a vineyard and has a deep seeded drive to overcome those challenges and succeed.
