John Harford is the Midwest Regional Manager for Premium Ports, a company wholly owned by the Symington Family, which has been in the Port trade for over 300 years, and owns iconic brands such as Graham’s, Dow’s, Cockburn’s and Prats + Symington. The Symington Family Estate wines are sold in 80 countries around the world. 

One of about four hundred Certified Wine Educators in the world, John travels throughout the Midwest educating distributors, retailers and consumers on the finer points of Port, Madeira and Portuguese table wine. Before working for Premium Ports, John worked for a handful of different wine & spirits distributors in the Chicago area, and prior to that spent over twenty years in the restaurant industry as a busboy, cook, server, manager and sommelier. John is an avid home cook who enjoys spending his free time preparing meals and serving wine for family and friends.