Hi all! I'm new to Snooth and I post under the nom de plume of Jimmy Cocktail. I live in Northern Virginia and up until last October, I was gainfully employed in the IT industry. Now, I've deceided that I really enjoy life much better not being part of the rat race anymore, so I'm looking to branch off and do something I love instead of just making a living. The idea is to write about wine and food in a not so intimidating manner as some of the experts currently do. So, I've started a blog on my home page (http://www.corrundum.net) in hopes of making a name for myself.

I come at wine from a different direction than most. I was introduced to wine by a friend attending Ithaca College in New York about 20 years ago. She had my wife and I come up for a long weekend to enjoy the wineries up there on Lake Cayuga. Needless to say, one trip down the wine trail there and I was hooked. Not because the wines there were mindblowingly good, but simply because of the joy of tasting the wines, getting to know the people at the wineries and the beautiful countryside that we drove through. Very quickly, we were making three or four trips up to the New York wineries every year. One of the highlights of these trips was getting to meet and know Dr. Konstanten Frank, a pioneer in bringing wine to Upstate New York.

For the past 10 years I've lived in Virginia, another area where there is a burgeoning wine industry. Much like New York was, this area is going through the growing pains of learning what grapes grow well in this climate, what the soil brings to the table, and just exactly what can be done with wine in Virginia. All the other similarities are there as well, the great people, beautiful scenery and some tasty wines.

This is why I say that I come at things from a different angle though. I learned to enjoy wine, not for the subtleties inherrent in the nose and flavor of the wines, but just as something to enjoy amongst friends. I've recently started to educate my palate in regards to the more intricate aspects of wines and hopefully being part of this community will help with this. I'm looking forward to learning from you all and perhaps bringing a little something to the table myself.