Who is the Wine Wizard?

Evening all,

Having read through my previous posts I realised I havent made any particular reference to my experience! I've decided to add the tag "ask me anything" but why should you?

Since I'm a young'un you might decide I'm not qualified enough... But! maybe not, each generation starts off young after all...

Well I grew up in the beautiful Northumberland originally from Newcastle upon Tyne, schooling wise I went to a catholic middle and local high school - I was good at English, History, Music, R.E... anything other than Math really (hated it!)

I juggled a few courses at college in Newcastle after I graduated and didnt find anything I cared about enough to stick with it, so I took a part time job at a local Wine Rack (RIP)

I started to discover this bizarre world of odd wine labels and a thousand or so bottles of this nice smelling stuff I knew nothing about. So with the help of a few dusty old encyclopedias of wine in the back office I began to study. I loved that job and worked full time after being promoted, took a few exams and started my qualifications with WSET (Wine and Spirit Educational Trust) eventually it became clear my beloved Wine Rack parent company was going under and...

Sommelier training! At a Fine Dining Restaurant in Northumberland, a swanky golf resort who got me a lot of experience with wine folk. I took the position because I wanted more knowledge which I realised I wasnt really getting after a few months so it didnt take me too long to give in and google wine courses in the uk and.... http://www.plumpton.ac.uk/ popped up. So in the space of a few weeks i packed up, moved 320 miles to the south coast and studied Wine Business FdA for 2 years with some fantastic people, amazing lecturers and all the experiences you could possibly want studying the wonderful world of wine.

I spent two years working for a local brewery in Sussex as the Assistant Wine Development Manager, still holding tastings, studying and ultimately drinking wine!

I moved onto doing private tastings for people, each one less than 2 hours long, maybe a dozen or so wines, I made it fun but educational (I'd like to think!) and it got me thinking about what I might like to do for myself in the future.

Now that I'm back in Hexham with old friends and family, I'd like to hopefully begin this adventure for myself and keep you all posted. I will be drawing up a Business Plan and keeping people updated on how I'm doing...

I hope this odd entry gives you a little insight to who I am and maybe you guys would be willing to shoot me some questions? Come on - I might get writers block!