Who am I?
I am Jim Harden, an Arizona native born in beautiful Prescott, AZ and a proud member of Generation X. My first video game was Pong and I remember when MTV actually played music (I never missed Yo MTV Raps or Headbangers Ball). I attended Arizona State University (Go Devils!!!) where I obtained a Computer Information Systems degree. My job as an Information Technology consultant had me living, working, and traveling throughout the country. Amongst other places, I lived in a suburb of Chicago, in Denver, and also spent extended periods of time away from home at various other locations. This Arizona boy got to see a lot of the Country through my IT job - but it kept me away from home way too much.
Late in 2012, with unbelievable support from my wife Terry, I left my 25+ year IT career to pursue my passion - Wine. This blog is part of that pursuit and my goal is to share my passion with as many of you winos out there as I can.
I have not yet worked in the wine industry or, with the exception of a stint during college at Godfather’s Pizza, in the food industry either. I am not a professional wine journalist, just a guy who has devleoped a serious passion for wine over the years. My hope is that I can find ways to help you explore wine in as much depth and in as many different ways as you want. I will admit I have turned into quite a wine geek and am very fascinated with the end to end process that brings that wonderful fermented grape juice to us all. I do not think all or even many of you out there will geek out as much as I have (excuse me, can you describe the dirt these grapes were grown in?), but my goal is to provide information about wine minus the snootiness and constant geek-talk that is so prevalent in wine writings I see every day. On occasions I know I will fail and some wine geek will slip through, but I promise to give you fair warning so you can prepare yourself accordingly (look for the label: Wine Geek Level High)! You may love some or all of the geeky parts and long for more geek, or you may just want to skip the geeky stuff in favor of the more practical information - the choice is yours but in either case I hope you enjoy being part of the Wino4Life nation!
What got me interested in wine?
My wine passion started from two main events - both of which I will always remember. The first was an example of my wife trying to expand my horizons against my will, and the second was the unbelievable hospitality from one specific winery.
Step 1 - Trying Something New Can be Rewarding!

Step 2 - One Simple Observation Triggers Something Wonderful
After becoming regulars at wine tasting, I started my plunge into wine-geekdom by starting to read things magazines like Wine Spectator and Wine & Spirits to learn more about the wines we tasted. As usual at that time, my job had me off traveling so I was not able to attend a very interesting tasting at the Wine Merchant where the winemaker from DeRose wines was presenting a tasting of his wines. My wife really like the wines, and introduced us to what would become one of our all time favorite wines - Hollywood Red. The first Hollywood Red my wife purchased at the tasting was a 1997 vintage - and we consumed and gave away a lot of this wine as gifts.


We decided to hang out in the area for a few hours to make sure I was OK to drive (I started tasting and spitting early on, so was not as “happy” as my wife at the end of our DeRose experience), and by the time we arrived at our Healdsburg bed and breakfast it was about 2 a.m. I will never forget the hospitality that Pat and Alphonse showed to us, and the amount of wine passion they had, and were eager to share with us. They spent a good part of their day on us - far from what I expected from our visit. At that point it stuck in my mind how great it would be to do something I was that passionate about for a career. It also ruined me for other wine-tastings, as we haven’t gotten the same level of attention at another winery...at least not yet!
Why should you read my blog?
I hope to provide lots of good information about the world of wine in a fun and snoot-free way. I value the trust that friends have when they ask me for wine recommendations or ask other wine related questions, and I truly want to build that trust in a larger audience of potential winos - you!!! We’ll call it a weekly (or more) dose of grape therapy!
I have accumulated my wine knowledge to date through countless hours reading wine blogs, reading magazines like Wine Spectator and Wine & Spirits, experimenting with food and wine combinations, and roaming the aisles of my local Total Wine store (the Disneyland of wine stores). I have also earned a Level 2 Certificate from the International Sommelier Guild, I am a Certified Associate Wine Steward with the Federation of Dining Room Professionals and am currently studying for my Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) from the Society of Wine Educators and I am studying with the International Wine Guild to become a Certified Cellar Manager. My transformation into a total wine geek is well underway and I am truly excited about what the future holds!!!
When can you expect to hear from me?
I will be posting the following on a regular basis - so please check back with me often!
- Wine Tip of the Week - my weekly tips to help your enjoyment and exploration of the world of wine.
- Wino4Life Posts - observations, musings, opinions, deepest thoughts, rants, raves - whatever comes to mind for that particular post. Interested in a specific topic? - just let me know and I will do my best! Some may be long, some may be short - but I promise to do my best to provide high quality and highly useful information.
- Wine Reviews - Often these reviews will be examples in my quest for great value wines in the $10 to $20 range, but you just never know what might come under Wino4Life scrutiny! I do promise to be honest and unbiased in providing my opinions. I am always looking for suggestions for wines to review - so please share your ideas! My goal is to have a review each week - sometimes more, sometimes less.
My pledge to you.
To provide fun and informative postings to share my passion for the world of wine. Opinions, biases, critiques are mine and not influenced by any paid sponsorship. Wines and gadgets used in bringing you this information will mostly be things that I select and purchase based on my whims and your suggestions. If I do ever review something that I received for free - you will definitely know about it up front, and it will not impact my opinion or review...I promise!
So... thanks for reading, please come back often and please provide suggestions, critiques, and whatever other feedback that comes to mind. I want to know how I’m doing so I can grow and improve as I continue my journey in pursuit of a passion for wine!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please join the conversation! Questions, comments, suggestions - I want it all!!