<!-- wp:heading -->
<h2>A Cellar Rat's Journey</h2>
<!-- /wp:heading -->

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">From tasting room to Cellar Master........a cellar rat’s journey.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I grew up in Pennsylvania but I have been coming to Finger Lakes all my life.  As a kid my family would bring me and my two older sisters to the Finger Lakes for months at a time in the summer.  I learned to swim in the waters of Seneca, climbed the many waterfalls, got cut by zebra mussels, boating, fishing, hiking...I learned it all in the Finger Lakes.  As you can probably guess, I love this area.  I went to school for years studying information technology and psychology.  After a lot of money and time I realized that this was not the life I wanted.  I wanted to be outside getting dirty, I wanted to be so tired that at the end of the day I wouldn't care that I smelled bad.  I also wanted to be surrounded by caring people.  I found all of that in the Finger Lakes. <img class="size-medium wp-image-5212 alignright" src="https://rednewt.com/wp1/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/image000000-300x225.jpg" alt="James working in snow" width="300" height="225" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I decided it was time for a change I came to the Finger Lakes and started to apply to the wineries.  One of the first wineries I worked for back in 2009 was Red Newt.  I started in the tasting room having a phenomenal time with the people coming to enjoy the Finger Lakes.  After showing interest, I was quickly tried out in the cellar.  It was immediately clear that I was born to be a cellar rat.....I was hooked.  Since then I have been working in wine cellars in the Finger Lakes .  I worked for Red Newt for a couple of years and then in 2015 I moved to Fox Run for a harvest.  I then moved to Lamoreaux Landing 2016 and did a harvest there.  However, I still missed Red Newt, and in 2017 I found myself back at their doors asking to work with the same people who made me fall in love with this industry and this gorgeous region.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> And I have been a happy Red Newt-er ever since..............</span></p>